wapinschaw

English

Alternative forms

• wapenshaw, wapinshaw, weapon-schaw, weaponshaw, weaponshow

Etymology

From Scots [Term?]. See weapon and show.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɑpɪnʃɔː/

Noun

wapinschaw (plural wapinschaws)

1. (Scotland, historical) An exhibition of weapons, according to the rank of the individual, by all persons bearing arms; formerly made at certain seasons in each district.
   • 1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 35–36:

     The sheriff of the county of Lanark was holding the wappen-schaw of a wild district, called the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, on a haugh, or level plain, near to a royal borough, […]

2. (Scotland, historical) A volunteer meeting or shooting competition inspired by this traditional exhibition of weapons.

Translations

exhibition of weapons

• Dutch: wapenschouw m
• Swedish: vapensyn (sv) c

References

• “wapinschaw”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.