Standard Lemma guide

swordplay

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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AO1 R D P L EY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

fighting with a sword

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • His expertise at swordplay made his acting in the part of Hamlet very believable.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: play

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: action

Narrower terms: fencing

History

Etymology

Inherited from Old English sweordplega. By surface analysis, sword + play.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: фехто́вка (fehtóvka) — fighting with a sword
  • Chinese Mandarin: 劍術 /剑术 (jiànshù) — fighting with a sword
  • Danish: sværdkamp — fighting with a sword
  • Finnish: miekkailu — fighting with a sword
  • French: escrime — fighting with a sword
  • French: combat à l'épée — fighting with a sword
  • German: Schwertkampf — fighting with a sword
  • German: Fechten — fighting with a sword
  • Ancient Greek: ξιφισμός (xiphismós) — fighting with a sword
  • Japanese: 剣術 (kenjutsu) — fighting with a sword
  • Japanese: フェンシング (fenshingu) — fighting with a sword
  • Kazakh: семсерлесу (semserlesu) — fighting with a sword
  • Manx: cliweaght — fighting with a sword
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sverdkamp — fighting with a sword
  • Persian: شمشیرزنی (šamširzani) — fighting with a sword
  • Polish: szermierka — fighting with a sword
  • Russian: фехтова́ние (fextovánije) — fighting with a sword
  • Spanish: esgrima — fighting with a sword
  • Swedish: svärdkamp — fighting with a sword
  • Tamil: வாள்வீச்சு (vāḷvīccu) — fighting with a sword