Definitions for sword
sɔrd, soʊrdsword

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. sword, blade, brand, steelnoun

   a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. swordnoun

   A long-bladed weapon having a handle and sometimes a hilt and designed to stab, cut or slash.

   Etymology: From sword, swerd, from sweord, from swerdan, from su̯r̥dhom, from swer-. Cognate with swerd, sword, swird, swurd, zwaard, sweerd, Schwert, svärd, sverð, Old Church Slavonic .

2. swordnoun

   Someone paid to handle a sword.

   Etymology: From sword, swerd, from sweord, from swerdan, from su̯r̥dhom, from swer-. Cognate with swerd, sword, swird, swurd, zwaard, sweerd, Schwert, svärd, sverð, Old Church Slavonic .

3. swordnoun

   A suit in the minor arcana in tarot.

   Etymology: From sword, swerd, from sweord, from swerdan, from su̯r̥dhom, from swer-. Cognate with swerd, sword, swird, swurd, zwaard, sweerd, Schwert, svärd, sverð, Old Church Slavonic .

4. swordnoun

   A card of this suit.

   Etymology: From sword, swerd, from sweord, from swerdan, from su̯r̥dhom, from swer-. Cognate with swerd, sword, swird, swurd, zwaard, sweerd, Schwert, svärd, sverð, Old Church Slavonic .

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Swordnoun

   an offensive weapon, having a long and usually sharp/pointed blade with a cutting edge or edges. It is the general term, including the small sword, rapier, saber, scimiter, and many other varieties

   Etymology: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svrd, Dan. svaerd; of uncertain origin.]

2. Swordnoun

   hence, the emblem of judicial vengeance or punishment, or of authority and power

   Etymology: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svrd, Dan. svaerd; of uncertain origin.]

3. Swordnoun

   destruction by the sword, or in battle; war; dissension

   Etymology: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svrd, Dan. svaerd; of uncertain origin.]

4. Swordnoun

   the military power of a country

   Etymology: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svrd, Dan. svaerd; of uncertain origin.]

5. Swordnoun

   one of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended

   Etymology: [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver, Sw. svrd, Dan. svaerd; of uncertain origin.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Sword

   A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword in the most narrow sense consists of a straight blade with two edges and a hilt. However, in nearly every case, the term may also be used to refer to weapons with a single edge. The word sword comes from the Old English sweord, cognate to swert, Old Norse sverð, from a Proto-Indo-European root *swer- "to wound, to cut". Non-European weapons called "sword" include single-edged weapons such as the Middle Eastern saif, the Chinese dao and the related Japanese katana. The Chinese jian is an example of a non-European double-edged sword, like the European models derived from the double-edged Iron Age sword. Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the earliest specimens date to ca. 1600 BC. The Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha as it developed in the Late Roman army became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages developed into the classical arming sword with crossguard.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. sword

   A well-known weapon of war, the introduction of which dates beyond the ken of history. It may be defined as a blade of steel, having one or two edges, set in a hilt, and used with a motion of the whole arm. Damascus and Toledo blades have been brought to such perfection, that the point can be made to touch the hilt and to fly back to its former position. In the last century every gentleman wore a sword; now the use of the weapon is almost confined to purposes of war. Among the forms of the sword are the rapier, cutlass, broadsword, scimiter, sabre, etc.

Matched Categories

1. • Weapon

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'sword' in Nouns Frequency: #1938

Anagrams for sword »

1. words

How to pronounce sword?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say sword in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of sword in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of sword in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of sword in a Sentence

1. Mary Hirsch:

   Humor is a rubber sword--it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.

2. Christopher Heywood:

   [A] literary feat of objective narration by an Afrikaner writer was Sword in the Sand (1969), Johannes Meintjes’ narration of Gideon Scheepers’ death by summary trial and execution. In Meintjes’ hands, history enters the realm of epic narrative

3. Seneca:

   A sword never kills anybody it is a tool in the killer's hand.

4. Vikrant Parsai:

   It is foolish to lend your sword to anyone during the battle.

5. George Freeman:

   She is falling on her sword, putting country before party and career, and is asking them to do the same. You could hear a pin drop in that room.

Images & Illustrations of sword

Popularity rank by frequency of use