hilt

See also: Hilt

English

The hilt of a sword.

Etymology

From Middle English hilt, hilte, from Old English hilt, hilte, from Proto-Germanic *heltą, *heltǭ, *heltō, *hiltijō, (compare Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza, Old Saxon helta), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to strike, cut”) (see holt).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hɪlt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪlt

Noun

hilt (plural hilts)

The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand.
Synonym: haft
Meronyms: grip, guard, crossguard, quillons, pommel
Holonym: sword
- 2009, James Drewe, Tàijí Jiàn 32-Posture Sword Form, Singing Dragon, →ISBN:
  A partial tang does not extend all the way through the hilt and is normally not more than half the width of the blade. The length of the tang and the width, particularly where it narrows before entering the pommel, vary from sword to sword.
The base of the penis.
- 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], OCLC 731622352:
  he draws it again, and just wetting it with spittle, re-enters, and with ease sheath'd it now up to the hilt

Derived terms

to the hilt

Translations

grip of a sword

Arabic: مَقْبَض‎ m (maqbaḍ)
Armenian: դաստակ (hy) (dastak)
Belarusian: рукая́тка f (rukajátka), дзяржа́нне n (dzjaržánnje), эфе́с m (efjés), рукая́ць f (rukajácʹ)
Bulgarian: ефес m (efes)
Catalan: empunyadura f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 柄 (zh) (bǐng), 刀柄 (zh) (dāobǐng)
Czech: jílec (cs) m
Danish: hæfte n
Dutch: heft (nl) n
Esperanto: tenilo
Finnish: kahva (fi)
French: poignée (fr) f
Galician: puño (gl) m, mango m
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Griff (de) m
Greek: λαβή (el) f (laví)
Ancient: λαβή f (labḗ)
Hungarian: markolat (hu)
Icelandic: hjalt n
Indonesian: gagang (id)
Irish: dornchla m, feirc f
Italian: impugnatura (it) f, elsa (it) f, coccia (it) f, guardamano m
Japanese: 柄 (ja) (つか, tsuka)
Khmer: ដង (km) (dɑɑŋ), ច្រាម (craam)
Korean: 칼자루 (ko) (kaljaru), 자루 (ko) (jaru)
Latin: manūbrium n
Lithuanian: rankena f
Macedonian: балчак m (balčak)
Malay: hulu (ms)
Mongolian: бариул (mn) (bariul)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hjalt (no) n
Nynorsk: hjalt n
Polish: rękojeść (pl) f
Portuguese: empunhadura (pt), cabo (pt)
Russian: рукоя́тка (ru) f (rukojátka), эфе́с (ru) m (efés), рукоя́ть (ru) f (rukojátʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: balčak (sh) m
Spanish: empuñadura (es) f, mango (es) m
Swedish: hjalt (sv) n
Tagalog: puluhan
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: kabza (tr)
Ukrainian: рукоя́тка f (rukojátka), рукоя́ть f (rukojátʹ), держа́к m (deržák), держа́ло n (deržálo), ефе́с m (efés), де́ржално n (déržalno)
Welsh: carn (cy) m

Verb

hilt (third-person singular simple present hilts, present participle hilting, simple past and past participle hilted)

(transitive) To provide with a hilt.
- 1973, Ugo Pericoli, 1815: the armies at Waterloo, page 78:
  Being lightly hilted, it was very heavy in the point and was useful only as an unscientific chopper, dangerous if it connected with a vital part of an adversary, ideal for cutting at defenceless infantry, but unsuitable for sabre to sabre action, especially against the French equivalent, a beautifully balanced weapon, which was so functional that it was still used by the French cavalry in 1918, while a copy was used by the Prussians in the war of 1870.
- 1978, Martin Louis Alan Gompertz, Adventures in Sakaeland, page 68:
  She took a ray of light from the moon, the lamp which stands on her adorning table, and fashioned it into a bright dagger. She hilted it with the turquoise of the morning sky, with some of the stars in it for better grip, and gave it to Gulsera, whispering in her ear.
- 2011, Dan Howard, Bronze Age Military Equipment, →ISBN, page 38:
  Reconstructions of Type A and Type B swords weigh less than 500g, even when hilted.
- 2015, Daniel D. Hartzler, American Silver-Hilted, Revolutionary and Early Federal Swords, →ISBN:
  By 1810 Clark and Rogers were New Orleans silversmiths, but this study has not revealed any products that they hilted.
(transitive) To insert (a bodily extremity) as far as it can go into a sexual orifice so that it is impeded by the wider base to which it is attached (finger until palm, penis until pelvis).
- 2015 Kitsune page 41
  his fingers hilted inside
- 2017 Hot Wife's Secret Sex Life page 25
  He hilted himself inside her.

Anagrams

-lith, Lith., lith, lith-

Middle English

Noun

hilt (plural hiltes)

Alternative form of hilte (“hilt”)

Verb

hilt

Alternative form of hiled: past participle of hilen (“to cover”)