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 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 The events are separated between age groups, divisions of quality of play (IA, II and III) and by weapon (epee, foil and saber). Eli McKown, The Arizona Republic, 27 June 2023 But he was allowed to go to Tokyo as an alternate on the U.S. epee team after an arbitrator overturned the suspension, and three teammates wore pink masks during a team photo in protest. Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 20 June 2023 Movies make life simpler for 27-year-old U.S. epee fencer Jake Hoyle, who lost his match in the table of 32. Christian Ortega, USA TODAY, 28 July 2021 Bouts in epee tend to be slower, with a high emphasis on counterattacks where points are one on sudden bursts of speed in a sport that's as close to 19th-century dueling as can be. Christian Ortega, USA TODAY, 28 July 2021 Fencing's medals will be awarded in women's individual epee and men's individual sabre competitions. Karen Mizoguchi, PEOPLE.com, 7 Aug. 2021 Shelby Jensen of Salt Lake City who will be competing in wheelchair fencing — saber, epee and foil — in the Paralympics in Tokyo, demonstrates one of her moves knows as the Matrix with her coach Brandon Smith. Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Aug. 2021 And Japan, which never had won a fencing title, beat the Russians in men’s team epee. BostonGlobe.com, 1 Aug. 2021

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 18 Apr. 2024.

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