Pl. -men. [f. gen. of SWORD sb. + MAN sb.1]
1. A man who uses, or is skilled in the use of, a sword; spec. one skilled in fencing.
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 219. As Swordsmen use to fence With blunted Foyles.
1802. C. James, Milit. Dict., Swordsman,… at present it generally means a person versed in the art of fencing.
1825. Lytton, Zicci, I. i. The Sicilian was a renowned swordsman; nevertheless, in the third pass he was run through the body.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xv. Had a common swordsman struck this fatal blow, he had harmed the bone and damaged the muscles.
1868. E. Edwards, Ralegh, I. xv. 306. His animosities were held in check by only one curb—he was no swordsman.
b. = SWORDMAN 1 b.
1865. J. H. Ingraham, Pillar of Fire (1872), 188. The Egyptian army consists of swordsmen, macemen, slingers, and other corps.
2. = SWORDMAN 2.
1701. J. Prince (title), Danmonii [sic] Orientales Illustres:… wherein the Lives … of the Most famous Divines, Statesmen, Swordsmen, Physicians [etc.], Natives of that most noble Province [sc. Devon] … are memoriz’d.
1851. Mrs. Browning, Casa Guidi Wind., I. 693. The swords-man’s pass.
So Swordswoman.
1833. Blackwood’s Edinburgh Mag., April, 541/2.
| ‘She laughs at scars who never felt a wound’; |
1883. Pall Mall G., 24 Dec. (Cassell’s). A company of twelve Viennese swordswomen will shortly arrive in Paris to give a series of entertainments.
