poniard

[pon-yerd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR poniard ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, slender dagger.

verb (used with object)

to stab with a poniard.

Origin of poniard

1580–90; < French poignard, derivative of poing fist < Latin pugnus; see -ard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for poniard

blade, bayonet, sword, cutlass, stylet, switchblade, stiletto, bodkin, dirk, anlace, sidearm, skean

Examples from the Web for poniard

Historical Examples of poniard

He remembered giving her this poniard on the very day of her crime.
The Old Countess; or, The Two Proposals
Ann S. Stephens
"Let me look at the poniard," she said, with unnatural gentleness.
The Old Countess; or, The Two Proposals
Ann S. Stephens
Ask him if he did not see this poniard in her room while she lay unburied in the house.
The Old Countess; or, The Two Proposals
Ann S. Stephens
His instruments were a silver cup, a poniard, and a handjar.
Tancred
Benjamin Disraeli
It cut to the heart's palpitating centre like a poniard thrust.
Other Main-Travelled Roads
Hamlin Garland

British Dictionary definitions for poniard

poniard

noun

a small dagger with a slender blade

verb

(tr) to stab with a poniard

Word Origin for poniard

C16: from Old French poignard dagger, from poing fist, from Latin pugnus; related to Latin pugnāre to fight

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for poniard

1580s, from Middle French poinard (early 16c.), from Old French poignal "dagger," literally "anything grasped with the fist," from poing "fist," from Latin pungus "fist," from PIE root *peuk- (see pugnacious). Probably altered in French by association with poindre "to stab." Cf. Latin pugnus "fist," pugio "dagger." As a verb from c.1600.