sword

See also: Sword and s-word

English

A sword lying beside its scabbard.

Alternative forms

• swerd (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sword, swerd, from Old English sweord (“sword”), from Proto-West Germanic *swerd, from Proto-Germanic *swerdą (“sword”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂w- (“sharp”). Cognate with Scots swuird, swerd, sword (“sword”), North Frisian swird (“sword”), West Frisian swurd (“sword”), Dutch zwaard (“sword”), Low German Sweerd, Schwert (“sword”), German Schwert (“sword”), Danish sværd, Norwegian sverd, Swedish svärd (“sword”), Icelandic sverð (“sword”), Old East Slavic свьрдьлъ (svĭrdĭlŭ, “drill”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /sɔɹd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɔːd/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /so(ː)ɹd/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /soəd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d
• Homophone: soared; sawed (non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Noun

sword (plural swords)

1. (weaponry) A long-bladed weapon with a hilt, and usually a pommel and cross-guard, which is designed to stab, slash, and/or hack.
   • c. 1515–1516,, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:

     Malicious tunges, though they have no bones,
     Are ſharper then ſwordes, ſturdier then ſtones.

   • c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 2, scene 2], line 59:

     Unsheathe your sword and dub him presently.

   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 49:

     Some swords were also made solely to thrust, and some only to cut; others were equally adapted for both.

2. (tarot) A suit in the minor arcana in tarot.
3. (tarot) A card of this suit.
4. (weaving) One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended.
5. (heraldry) The weapon, often used as a heraldic charge.

Coordinate terms

• (weaponry): bayonet, claymore, cutlass, dagger, epee, épée, falchion, foil, katana, knife, machete, rapier, sabre, saber, scimitar, vorpal, yataghan, yatagan

Derived terms

• bastardsword
• broadsword
• double-edged sword
• fall on one's sword
• fall on one’s sword
• longsword
• pork sword
• put to the sword
• samurai sword
• sellsword
• short sword
• sword bayonet
• sword-bearer
• swordbearer
• sword-bearing
• swordbearing
• swordbill
• sword cane
• swordcraft
• sword dance
• sword fern
• swordfish
• sword grass
• sword knot
• sword lily
• sword of Damocles
• sword of state
• swordplay
• swordsman
• swordsmanship
• swordstick
• sword-swallower
• two-hand sword
• two swords

 

Translations

weapon

• Abkhaz: аса (asa)
• Adyghe: чатэ (čātă)
• Afrikaans: swaard
• Albanian: shpatë (sq) f, pallë (sq) f, shkallmë f
• Amharic: ሰይፍ (säyfə)
• Arabic: سَيْف‎ (ar) m (sayf)

  Egyptian Arabic: سيف‎ m (sēf)

  Hijazi Arabic: سيف‎ m (sēf)

• Aragonese: espata f
• Armenian: թուր (hy) (tʿur), սուր (hy) (sur)
• Aromanian: apalã f, spatã f, coardã f, cealãmi f, lipidã f
• Assamese: তৰোৱাল (torüal), হেংদাং (heṅdaṅ)
• Asturian: espada f
• Avar: кӏалден (ḳalden)
• Azerbaijani: qılınc (az)
• Balinese: please add this translation if you can
• Baluchi: زہم‎ (zahm)
• Bashkir: ҡылыс (qïlïs)
• Basque: ezpata (eu)
• Belarusian: ша́бля f (šáblja), меч m (mječ)
• Bengali: অসি (ôśi)
• Breton: kleze (br) m, klezeñv m
• Bulgarian: меч (bg) m (meč)
• Burmese: ဓား (my) (dha:)
• Burushaski: please add this translation if you can
• Buryat: һэлмэ (helme)
• Catalan: espasa (ca) f
• Chakma: 𑄙𑄟 (dhāmā)
• Chechen: гӏалакх (ġalaq), тур (tur)
• Cherokee: ᎭᏰᎳᏍᏗ ᎦᏅᎯᏓ (hayelasdi ganvhida)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 劍 (yue), 剑 (gim³)

  Hakka: 劍, 剑 (kiam)

  Mandarin: 劍 (zh), 剑 (zh) (jiàn), 刀 (zh) (dāo)

  Min Dong: 劍, 剑 (giéng)

  Min Nan: 劍, 剑 (kiàm)

  Wu: 劍, 剑 (ji)

• Chuukese: ketinas
• Classical Nahuatl: tepozmāccuahuitl
• Classical Syriac: ܣܝܦܐ‎ m (sāyp̄ā)
• Coptic:

  Bohairic: ⲥⲏϥⲓ f (sēfi)

  Sahidic: ⲥⲏϥⲉ f (sēfe)

• Cornish: kledha m
• Czech: meč (cs) m
• Dalmatian: sputa f
• Danish: sværd n
• Daur: selmii
• Dhivehi: ކަނދި‎ (kaⁿdi)
• Dongxiang: baojien
• Dutch: zwaard (nl) n
• Egyptian: (mšw)
• Esperanto: glavo (eo)
• Estonian: mõõk (et)
• Evenki: тутэкэ̄н (tutəkə̄n)
• Faroese: svørð n, mæki m (archaic)
• Finnish: miekka (fi)
• French: épée (fr) f, glaive (fr) m

  Old French: espee f

• Friulian: spade f
• Gagauz: kılıç
• Galician: espada (gl) f
• Georgian: ხმალი (ka) (xmali), დაშნა (dašna), მახვილი (maxvili), ლახვარი (laxvari)
• German: Schwert (de) n

  Alemannic German: Schwärt n

• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌿𐍃 m (hairus), 𐌼𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 m (mēkeis)
• Greek: ξίφος (el) n (xífos), σπαθί (el) n (spathí)

  Ancient: ξίφος n (xíphos), φάσγανον n (phásganon), μάχαιρα f (mákhaira) (short), ῥομφαία f (rhomphaía) (long and broad)

• Greenlandic: pana
• Guaraní: kysepuku
• Gujarati: તલવાર (gu) f (talvār), શમશેર f (śamśer)
• Hebrew: חֶרֶב‎ (he) f (ẖérev), סַיִף‎ (he) m (sáyif)
• Hindi: तलवार (hi) f (talvār), शमशेर (hi) f (śamśer)
• Hungarian: kard (hu)
• Hunsrik: Schweert n
• Icelandic: sverð (is) n
• Ido: espado (io)
• Indonesian: pedang (id)
• Ingrian: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingua: spada, gladio
• Iranun: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: claíomh m

  Old Irish: claideb m

• Istriot: spada f
• Italian: spada (it) f, brando (it) m (poetic), stocco (it) m, gladio (it) m
• Japanese: 刀 (ja) (かたな, katana), 剣 (ja) (つるぎ, tsurugi; けん, ken)
• Jarai: đao
• Javanese: please add this translation if you can
• Kalmyk: селм (selm), үлд (üld)
• Kannada: ಕತ್ತಿ (kn) (katti)
• Karachay-Balkar: къылыч (qılıç)
• Karakalpak: qılısh
• Kashubian: miecz m
• Kazakh: қылыш (kk) (qılış)
• Khakas: хылыс (xılıs)
• Khmer: ដាវ (km) (daaw)
• Komi-Permyak: шыпурт (šypurt)
• Korean: 검 (ko) (geom) (劍 (ko)), 칼 (ko) (kal)
• Kumyk: къылыч (qılıç)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شِمشێر‎ (şimşêr), شیر‎ (ku) (şîr)

  Northern Kurdish: şimşûr (ku), şûr (ku)

• Kyrgyz: кылыч (kılıç)
• Ladin: please add this translation if you can
• Lao: ດາບ (lo) (dāp)
• Latgalian: zūbyns

• Latin: gladius (la) m, spatha f, ēnsis m, machaera f, mūcrō m, ferrum (la) n
• Latvian: zobens m
• Ligurian: spâ f
• Limburgish: zwerd (li) n
• Lithuanian: kalavijas (lt) m, kardas (lt) m
• Lombard: please add this translation if you can
• Low German:

  German Low German: Sweerd n

• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: меч m (meč)
• Maguindanao: please add this translation if you can
• Malagasy: antsifotsy (mg), sabatra (mg), viarara (mg)
• Malay: pedang
• Malayalam: വാള് (ml) (vāḷŭ)
• Maltese: sejf m, xabla f
• Manchu: ᠯᠣᡥᠣ (loho)
• Manx: cliwe m
• Maori: hoari
• Maranao: koyang, miros, pedang
• Mazanderani: please add this translation if you can
• Minangkabau: please add this translation if you can
• Mon: please add this translation if you can
• Mongghul: uldi
• Mongolian: илд (mn) (ild), сэлэм (mn) (selem)
• Nahuatl: tepozmācuahuitl
• Navajo: diltłish
• Ngazidja Comorian: upanga 11 or 10
• Nogai: кылыш (kılış)
• North Frisian: swird n, Swērt c (Sylt), Swiirt n (Sylt)
• Northern Qiang: hɑː
• Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sverd (no) n

  Nynorsk: sverd n

• Occitan: espasa (oc) f
• Ojibwe: ashaweshk
• Old Church Slavonic: мечь m (mečĭ)
• Old East Slavic: мечь m (mečĭ)
• Old English: sweord n, sword (ang) n, bil n, mēċe m, secg m
• Old Norse: mækir m, sverð n
• Oriya: ଖଡ୍ଗ (khôḍgô)
• Ossetian: кард (kard)
• Pashto: توره‎ (ps) f (túra)
• Persian: شمشیر‎ (fa) (šamšir)
• Piedmontese: spa f
• Plautdietsch: Schweat n, Schwieet n
• Pohnpeian: kedlahs
• Polish: miecz (pl) m
• Portuguese: espada (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਤਲਵਾਰ (pa) (talvār)
• Quechua: sawli
• Rohingya: please add this translation if you can
• Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: sabie (ro) f, spadă (ro) f
• Romansch: spada f, speda f
• Russian: меч (ru) m (meč), шпа́га (ru) f (špága), са́бля (ru) f (sáblja)
• Samogitian: kalavėjs m
• Sanskrit: कृपाण (sa) (kṛpāṇa), असि (sa) m (asi), खड्ग (sa) m (khaḍga)
• Sardinian: spada f, ispada f
• Saterland Frisian: Swäid n
• Scottish Gaelic: claidheamh m, slòighre f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мач m

  Roman: mač (sh) m

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Shona: munondo
• Shor: қылыш (qılış)
• Sicilian: spata (scn) f
• Sinhalese: කඩුව (kaḍuwa)
• Slovak: meč m
• Slovene: meč (sl) m, sablja (sl) f
• Somali: seef f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: mjac m

  Upper Sorbian: mječ m

• Southern Altai: кылыш (kïlïš)
• Spanish: espada (es) f
• Sudovian: kalavian
• Swahili: upanga
• Swedish: svärd (sv) n
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: tabak
• Tajik: шамшер (tg) (šamšer)
• Tamil: வாள் (ta) (vāḷ)
• Tatar: кылыч (tt) (qılıç)
• Telugu: కత్తి (te) (katti), కృపాణము (te) (kr̥pāṇamu)
• Thai: ดาบ (th) (dàap)
• Tibetan: དཔའ་དམ། (dpa' dam)
• Tocharian B: apsāl, kertte
• Tok Pisin: bainat, bainet
• Tongan: heleta
• Turkish: kılıç (tr)
• Turkmen: gylyç
• Tuvan: хылыш (xılış)
• Ukrainian: меч (uk) m (meč)
• Urdu: تلوار‎ f (talvār), شمشیر‎ f (šamšer)
• Uyghur: قىلىچ‎ (qilich), شەمشەر‎ (ug) (shemsher)
• Uzbek: qilich (uz), shamshir (uz)
• Venetian: spada f
• Veps: mek
• Vietnamese: gươm (vi), kiếm (vi)
• Volapük: gläv (vo)
• Võro: please add this translation if you can
• Walloon: spêye (wa) f
• Waray-Waray: espada
• Welsh: cleddyf (cy) m
• West Frisian: swurd n
• Yakut: кылыс (kılıs)
• Yiddish: שווערד‎ f (shverd)
• Zazaki: şimşêr

one who handles a sword

• Bulgarian: мечоно́сец m (mečonósec)
• Catalan: espasa (ca) m or f
• Finnish: miekkamies
• French: épéiste (fr)
• Galician: espadachín m
• German: Schwertkämpfer (de), Schwertkämpferin (de) f

• Greek: ξιφοφόρος (el) m (xifofóros), ξιφομάχος (el) m (xifomáchos)
• Hungarian: kardforgató (lit. sword-swinger)
• Macedonian: мечувалец m (mečuvalec)
• Russian: мечено́сец (ru) m (mečenósec)

suit in tarot

• Finnish: miekat (fi) pl

card of this suit

• Finnish: miekka (fi)

• Greek: σπαθί (el) n (spathí), σπαθιά (el) pl (spathiá)

Verb

sword (third-person singular simple present swords, present participle swording, simple past and past participle sworded)

1. To stab or cut with a sword

Anagrams

• words

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• swerd, sord, sworde, zuord

Etymology

From Old English sword, a Mercian form of sweord (which some forms are directly from); from Proto-Germanic *swerdą.

Pronunciation

• (Early ME; from sweord) IPA^(key): /swœrd/
• (From sweord) IPA^(key): /swɛrd/, /swurd/, /surd/
• IPA^(key): /swɔrd/, /sɔrd/

Noun

sword (plural swordes or (early) sweorden)

1. sword, sabre
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Matheu 10:34, page 4v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     Nile ȝe deme þat I cam to ſende pees in to erþe / I cam not to ſende pees .· but swerd

     Don't feel that I came to bring peace to Earth. I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword.

2. (figuratively) Military might or power.

Descendants

• English: sword
• Scots: swerd, sword

References

• “sword, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-16.

---

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sword/, [sworˠd]

Noun

sword n (nominative plural sword) (Mercian)

1. Alternative form of sweord