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swordsman

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Etymology and origin of the English word swordsman

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1657 More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Old English sweord,mannian
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English sword
English swordsman

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsɔːdsmən/[1]
  • US: /ˈsɔɹdsmən/, /ˈsoɹdsmən/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English sword + man, with the first element in the genitive.[2][3][4][5] It took over from the older swordman, Middle English swerdman, recorded from before 1387 in the sense "sword fighter, gladiator".[4][2][6][3] Old English had sweordfreca for a warrior with a sword, a word found in “Beowulf”.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A man who uses a sword, or one skilled with it: Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1657,[3] the OED to before 1680, in Samuel Butler,[2] and Etymonline to the 1670s.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word took over the senses of swordman: a soldier armed with a sword, recorded for swordsman from 1859, and a fighting man or warrior in general, from 1701.[2][5] Merriam-Webster now marks the military senses archaic and gives, beside skill with a sword, especially a saber fencer.[3] The derivative swordsmanship is recorded from 1765.[4]

Timeline

  • 1657 – a man skilled in using a sword.[3] The OED's first quotation is from before 1680.[2]
  • 1701 – a warrior, a fighting man.[2]
  • 1859 – a soldier armed with a sword.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person skilled in using a sword, especially in fencing: The old swordsman still trained his pupils every morning.[3][8][2]
  2. (archaic) A soldier armed with a sword; a warrior.[3][2][5]

Word family

  • swordsmanship

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  7. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Swordsman.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/swordsman. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·