meč

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mec"

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech meč, from Proto-Slavic *mečь. Further etymology unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛt͡ʃ]
• Hyphenation: meč
• Rhymes: -ɛtʃ

Noun

meč m inan (relational adjective mečový, diminutive mečík)

1. sword

Declension

Declension of meč (soft masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	meč	meče
genitive	meče	mečů
dative	meči	mečům
accusative	meč	meče
vocative	meči	meče
locative	meči	mečích
instrumental	mečem	meči

Derived terms

• mečík
• mečíř
• mečoun

Further reading

• “meč”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “meč”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “meč”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mečь. Further etymology unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈmɛt͡ʃ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈmɛt͡ʃ/

Noun

meč m inan

1. sword

Declension

Declension of meč (soft o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	meč	mečě	meči, mečové
genitive	mečě	mečú	mečóv
dative	meču	mečoma	mečóm
accusative	meč	mečě	mečě
vocative	meču	mečě	meči, mečové
locative	meči, meču	mečú	mečích
instrumental	mečem	mečoma	meči

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.
See also Appendix:Old Czech nouns and Appendix:Old Czech pronunciation.

Descendants

• Czech: meč

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “meč”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mečь. Further etymology unclear.

Alternative forms

• mȁč (standard)

Noun

meč m (Cyrillic spelling меч)

1. (Chakavian) sword
   • 1501, Marko Marulić, Judita:

     sprid i zad jahahu vitezi železni,
     kopja jim se sjahu i meči bodežni.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1584, Brne Karnarutić, Vazetje Sigeta grada:

     Svak u vojski muči gledav sablju ter meč,
     Pod njom zemlja buci deset milj udaleč.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1684, Pavao Vitezović, Odiljenje sigetsko:

     I njoj meč smrt zada kod drugih vojnika,
     što je mužu sada ta vladika? Dika.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

From English match.

Noun

mȅč m (Cyrillic spelling ме̏ч)

1. match (sporting event)

Declension

Declension of meč

	singular	plural
nominative	meč	mečevi
genitive	meča	mečeva
dative	meču	mečevima
accusative	meč	mečeve
vocative	meču	mečevi
locative	meču	mečevima
instrumental	mečom	mečevima

Further reading

• “meč”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mečь. Further etymology unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [met͡ʃ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

meč m inan (relational adjective mečový, diminutive mečík)

1. sword

Declension

Declension of meč
(pattern stroj)

	singular	plural
nominative	meč	meče
genitive	meča	mečov
dative	meču	mečom
accusative	meč	meče
locative	meči	mečoch
instrumental	mečom	mečmi

Further reading

• “meč”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *mečь. Further etymology unclear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ́t͡ʃ/

Noun

mȅč m inan

1. sword

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing.	mèč
gen. sing.	mêča
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	mèč	mêča	mêči
genitive (rodȋlnik)	mêča	mêčev	mêčev
dative (dajȃlnik)	mêču	mêčema	mêčem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	mèč	mêča	mêče
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	mêču	mêčih	mêčih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	mêčem	mêčema	mêči

See also

• sáblja

Further reading

• “meč”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025