Pistoia

The surgical blade may be named for a Tuscan city, like the pistol.

The word is often traced through French to Pistoia, a noted centre of metalwork. The link is conventional but not settled.

The handgun's name may come from Pistoia, or from a Czech word for a pipe.

One account traces it to Pistoia's gunsmiths, another to Czech pišťala, a pipe or whistle. Both routes are argued and neither is settled.