Etymologically
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swashbuckler

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Etymology

It is a compound of swash “to strike, clash”[1][2][3][4] and buckler “a small shield”.[1][2][3][4] An earlier name was simply swash (1540s).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A swaggering bravo or ruffian; a noisy braggart (1560; 1550s in Etymonline).[5][1][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The original sense seems to have been one who makes a menacing noise by striking his own or an opponent's shield.[1][2][6] It came to mean a swaggering fighting man,[2][5] and then, more admiringly, a daring and flamboyant adventurer.[6][3][4] From 1975 it also names a book or film about such characters.[5][3][6] Swashbuckling is recorded before 1693.[1]

Timeline

  • 1540s – swash, a swaggerer.[2]
  • 1560 – a swaggering ruffian.[5][1][3]
  • before 1693 – swashbuckling.[1]
  • 1975 – a swashbuckling book or film.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A flamboyant swordsman or daring adventurer.
  2. A swaggering, sword-wielding ruffian or bully.
  3. A novel, play or film about such a character.

Word family

  • swashbuckling

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin