poniard

English

Alternative forms

• poignard

Etymology

From French poignard, from poing (“fist”), from Old French, from Latin pūgnus (“fist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peuk-.

Noun

poniard (plural poniards)

1. A dagger typically having a slender square or triangular blade.
   • 1602 : William Shakespeare, Hamlet , act V scene 1

     The King, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary

     horses, against the which he has impawned, as I take it,

     six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as

     girdle, hanger, and so.

Translations

Translations

Portuguese: punhal

Verb

poniard (third-person singular simple present poniards, present participle poniarding, simple past and past participle poniarded)

1. To stab with a poniard.

Related terms

• impugn
• pugilism
• pugnacious
• repugn (repugnant)

References

• “poniard” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “poniard” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "poniard" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.