pugilism C2+ Topic:Sports & Fitness US /ˈpjudʒəˌlɪzəm/ UK /ˈpjuːdʒɪlɪzəm/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the practice or sport of boxing Victorian gentlemen took up pugilism for sport and honor. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the practice or sport of... boxingfisticuffsprizefightingfightingsparring Word family Related forms pugilistpugilisticpugnaciousimpugn Etymology AI details From Latin pugil ('a boxer') + the suffix -ism. Pugil derives from pugnus ('fist'), related to pugnare ('to fight'). pugil Latin pugnus Latin *pewǵ- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Sports & Fitness Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # pugilism **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈpjudʒəˌlɪzəm/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈpjuːdʒɪlɪzəm/ ## Meanings 1. the practice or sport of boxing ## Examples - Victorian gentlemen took up pugilism for sport and honor. ## Synonyms - boxing - fisticuffs - prizefighting - fighting - sparring ## Related Forms - pugilist - pugilistic - pugnacious - impugn ## Roots and Affixes - Root: pugil - Root: pugnus - Root: *pewǵ- ## Etymology From Latin pugil ('a boxer') + the suffix -ism. Pugil derives from pugnus ('fist'), related to pugnare ('to fight'). ## AI Etymology Pugilism is from Latin pugil ('a boxer') + the suffix -ism. Pugil derives from pugnus ('fist'), related to pugnare ('to fight'). Important recorded forms include pugil (Latin), pugnus (Latin), and *pewǵ- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers the practice or sport of boxing. The wider family includes related words such as pugilist, pugilistic, pugnacious, and impugn. ## Topics - Sports & Fitness - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown