poniard

English

Alternative forms

• poignard, poinard, poynard, punierd

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French poignard, from poing (“fist”), from Old French poing, from Latin pugnus (“fist”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒnjəd/, /ˈpɒnjɑːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑnjɚd/

Noun

poniard (plural poniards)

1. (now chiefly historical) A dagger typically having a slender square or triangular blade. [from 16th c.]
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     The sir King ha's wag'd with him six Barbary horses, / against the which he impon'd as I take it, sixe French / Rapiers and Poniards, with their assignes, as Girdle, / Hangers or so […].

   • c. 1621–1623 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Maid of Honour. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signatures D2, verso – D3, recto:

     You yeoman phevvterer, conduct mee to / The Lady of the manſion, or my poniard / Shall diſemboge thy ſoule.

   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 101, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume IV, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     One of the tragic authors, finding himself assaulted in the dark, had, by way of poinard, employed upon his adversary's throat a knife which lay upon the table, for the convenience of cutting cheese […] .

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 29, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     A Poynard is more sure to wound a man, which forsomuch as it requireth more motion and vigor of the arme, than a pistol, it's stroke is more subject to be hindred or avoyded.

   • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner:

     On this occasion I said nothing, but concealing his poniard in my clothes, I hasted up the mountain, determined to execute my purpose […].

Translations

dagger

• Bulgarian: кама́ (bg) f (kamá), кинжа́л (bg) m (kinžál)
• Dutch: knijf n, ponjaard (nl) m
• Esperanto: ponardo
• French: poignard (fr) m
• Galician: puñal m
• Ido: poniardo (io)
• Italian: pugnale (it) m
• Latin: sīca f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dolk (no) m

• Persian: شوشکه (fa) (šuške)
• Portuguese: punhal (pt) m
• Russian: кинжа́л (ru) m (kinžál)
• Spanish: puñal (es) m

Verb

poniard (third-person singular simple present poniards, present participle poniarding, simple past and past participle poniarded)

1. To stab with a poniard.
   • 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section I:

     Manfred […] would have poignarded the peasant in their arms.

Related terms

• impugn
• pugilism
• pugnacious
• repugn (repugnant)

References

• “poniard”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “poniard”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "poniard" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• padroni, pandori, paridon, poinard