1
: a fencing or dueling sword having a bowl-shaped guard and a rigid blade of triangular section with no cutting edge that tapers to a sharp point blunted for fencing compare foil entry 4 sense 1, saber
2
: the art or sport of fencing with the épée

Illustration of épée

Illustration of épée
  • épée 1

Examples of épée in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Fencing — Men’s team epee at 1:30 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. Larissa Gao, NBC News, 3 Aug. 2024 Also Sunday, Japan's Koki Kano beat France's Yannick Borel 15-9 for the men's epee gold medal. CBS News, 29 July 2024 Vivian Kong won Hong Kong's first medal at the Paris Games, topping the podium in the women's epee individual event. Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 31 July 2024 Susan Baek Fencing uses three different weapons: epee (or épée), foil and saber. Greg Rosenstein, NBC News, 30 July 2024 Dressage, Grand Prix, Day 1 (delay) | E! FENCING 7:30 a.m. —Team epee semifinals | E! 1:30 p.m. —Women’s team epee bronze/gold finals (delay) | E! Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2024 Also Sunday, France’s Yannick Borel was facing Japan’s Koki Kano for the men’s epee gold medal. James Ellingworth, Chicago Tribune, 28 July 2024 But approximately 17,000 pieces of athletes’ luggage will be irregular, including everything from epees to kayaks, which is a challenge. J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 24 July 2024 There are 163 athletes from Northern California competing, including 82-year-old epee fencer Ernie Simard of Petaluma. Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'épée.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Old French espee, Latin spatha

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of épée was in 1889

Dictionary Entries Near épée

Cite this Entry

“épée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%C3%A9p%C3%A9e. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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