From Brewer:
Ricochet [rikko-shay]. Anything repeated over and over again. The fabulous bird that had only one note
was called the ricochet; and the rebound on water termed ducks and drakes has the same name. Marshal
Vauban (1633-1707) invented a battery of rebound called the ricochet battery, the application of which
was ricochet firing.
ricochet
n.
Fr; used first in fable du ricochet (story in which the narrator constantly evades the hearers‘ questions) < ?6
1 the oblique rebound or skipping of a bullet, stone, etc. after striking a surface at an angle
2 a bullet, etc. that ricochets
vi.
3cheted# 73*ad#8 or 3chet#ted 73*et#id8, 3chet#ing 73*a#i%8 or 3chet#ting 73*et#i%8 5Fr ricocher < the n.6 to make a ricochet motion
—SYN SKIP1

I never heard of origin before. I knew it only as describing a bullet hitting a horizontal flat stone
and rebounding.