rapier

rapier

See also: Rapier

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French rapiere, from Middle French (espee) rapiere, from Old French rapiere, raspiere, from Spanish raspadera (“poker; raker; scraper”), from Spanish raspar (“to scrape”), of Germanic origin. More at rasp.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪpˌɪə(ɹ)/

Noun

rapier (plural rapiers)

1. A slender, straight, sharply pointed sword (double-edged, single-edged or edgeless).
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     , act IV scene 1

     […] In his lawless fit,

     Behind the arras hearing something stir,

     Whips out his rapier, cries ‘A rat, a rat!’

     And in this brainish apprehension kills

     The unseen good old man.

   • 1911, G. K. Chesterton, “The Sins of Prince Saradine”, in The Innocence of Father Brown:

     The man beside him with the earrings and the big black case proceeded to unlock it. He took out of it two long Italian rapiers, with splendid steel hilts and blades, which he planted point downwards in the lawn.

Translations

slender straight sharply pointed sword

Arabic: سَيْفٌ ذُو حَدَّيْن‎ m (sayfun ḏū ḥaddayn), سَيْفُ الْمُبَارَزَة‎ m (sayfu l-mubāraza), مِغْوَل‎ m (miḡwal) Armenian: սուսեր (hy) (suser) Bulgarian: рапира (bg) f (rapira) Catalan: estoc (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 護手刺劍／护手刺剑 (hùshǒu cìjiàn) Czech: rapír m Dutch: rapier (nl) n Esperanto: rapiro Finnish: rapiiri French: rapière (fr) f Galician: estoque m German: Florett (de) n, Rapier (de) n, Stoßdegen m Italian: stocco (it) m Japanese: レイピア (reipia) Kazakh: рапира (rapira) Korean: 레이피어 (reipieo) Macedonian: рапи́р m (rapír) Manx: cliwe keyl m Marathi: रेपियर f (repiyar) Ottoman Turkish: شیش‎ (şiş) Portuguese: florete (pt) m, rapieira f Russian: рапи́ра (ru) f (rapíra), шпа́га (ru) f (špága) Spanish: estoque (es) m, espada ropera f Swedish: rapir c, värja (sv) c Volapük: steigaden (vo)

Adjective

rapier (not comparable)

1. Extremely sharp.
2. Cutting; employing keen wit.

   John is very quick on his feet during interviews by using his rapier responses.

Adjective

rapier

1. comparative form of rapey: more rapey

Anagrams

• pairer, repair

---

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French (espee) rapiere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raːˈpiːr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ra‧pier
• Rhymes: -iːr

Noun

rapier n (plural rapieren, diminutive rapiertje n)

1. rapier

Coordinate terms

• degen

---

Polish

Alternative forms

• rapir (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from French rapière. First attested in 1597.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.pjɛr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -apjɛr
• Syllabification: ra‧pier

Noun

rapier m inan

1. rapier

Declension

Declension of rapier

	singular	plural
nominative	rapier	rapiery
genitive	rapieru	rapierów
dative	rapierowi	rapierom
accusative	rapier	rapiery
instrumental	rapierem	rapierami
locative	rapierze	rapierach
vocative	rapierze	rapiery

References

1. “rapier”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2022

Further reading

• rapier in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• rapier in Polish dictionaries at PWN