poniard

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: a dagger with a slender blade, often of triangular or square cross section

   The display case contained a jeweled poniard beside a ceremonial sword.

2. 2
   verb

   archaic: to stab, pierce, or kill with a poniard

   The melodrama's villain threatened to poniard the sleeping guard.

Borrowed from Middle French poignard, 'dagger,' from poing, 'fist,' ultimately Latin pugnus, 'fist.' English simplified the spelling to poniard while also retaining the rarer variant poignard. The noun dates from the sixteenth century; a verb meaning 'stab with a poniard' followed soon after.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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