Standard Lemma guide

epee

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɛpeɪ/
  • /ˈeɪpeɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛpeɪ
  • homophone: epees

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: fencing, government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, sports, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fencing sword

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French épée, from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē). Doublet of spatha, spathe, and spade.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սուսեր (suser) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Catalan: espasa — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 重劍 /重剑 (zhòngjiàn) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Czech: kord — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Dutch: degen — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Finnish: kalpa — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • French: épée — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • German: Degen — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Hungarian: párbajtőr — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Italian: spada — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Japanese: エペ (epe) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Korean: 에페 (epe) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Lithuanian: špaga — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Macedonian: меч (meč) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Polish: szpada — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Portuguese: espada — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Russian: шпа́га (špága) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Spanish: espada — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Swedish: värja — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Turkish: epe — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing
  • Ukrainian: шпа́га (špáha) — sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing