RAPIER  , the name given to two distinct types of See also:

• SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword . Originally the " rapier " (Fr. rapiere) was a See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long two-edged and pointed weapon with a wide See also:

• CUP (in O.E. cuppe; generally taken to be from Late Lat. cuppa, a variant of Lat. cupa, a cask, cf. Gr. KuaeXXov)

cup hilt, used together with the See also:

• DAGGER

dagger in See also:

• FENCING

fencing and duelling chiefly as a thrusting weapon, the cut taking a secondary position . This was the typical duelling sword of the 16th and 17th centuries . In the 18th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the " small-sword " took its See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place; this was a pointed weapon only, the " cut " having entirely dropped out, and the dagger being discarded . The word rapier is of doubtful origin . Du Cange (Glossarium, s. v . " Rapparia ") quotes an example of the word used as an See also:

• ADJECTIVE (from the Lat. adjectives, added)

adjective to qualify espee as See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as 1474, and gives as a conjectural derivation Gr. pairlEely=See also:

• LAT

Lat. caedere, to cut . See also:

• SKEAT, WALTER WILLIAM (1835– )

Skeat (Etym . Did., 1910) follows the See also:

• SUGGESTION

suggestion of See also:

• DIEZ
• DIEZ, FRIEDRICH CHRISTIAN (1794–1876)

Diez that rapiere is from raspiere, a rasper or See also:

• POKER

poker, and was a name given in contempt by the old cut-and-thrust fencers to the new weapon . See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish has raspadera, a raker, and there are several 16th and 17th century quotations alluding to the See also:

• CON

con-tempt with which the rapier was greeted, and to its Spanish origin (see FENCING and SWORD) .