sparth
See also: sparð
English
Etymology
From Middle English sparth, from Old Norse sparða.
Noun
sparth (plural sparths)
- (obsolete) A battle-axe or halberd.
- 1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, OCLC 715474564, page 66; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:
- Sparthe an inſtrument.
- 1587, Raphaell Holinshed; Iohn Hooker, “The Second Book of the Conqueſt of Ireland”, in The firſt and ſecond volumes of Chronicles […] , volume II, London: Henry Denham, page 33:
- […] betweene whom was a cruell fight, the one part giuing a fierce onſet with ſtones and ſpaths[sic], & the other defending themſelues with bowes and weapons.
- 1633, Edmund Campion; Meredith Hamner, Tvvo Histories of Ireland […] , Dublin: Society of Stationers, page 66:
- […] how that the Englſshmen not being able to ſtand in fight, turned backe to backe, with ſparthes and two handed swords, untill the laſt man was ſlaine.
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References
- sparth at OneLook Dictionary Search
- sparth in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- sparth in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- thraps
Middle English
FWOTD – 5 December 2022
Alternative forms
- sparreth, sparthe, sparþe
Etymology
Borrowed from Old Norse sparða.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sparθ/, /ˈsparð(ə)/
Noun
sparth (plural sparthes)
- battle-axe
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knyghtes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868:
- He hath a sparth of twenti pound of wight.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
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Descendants
- English: sparth
References
- “sparth(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.