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hilt

UK/hɪlt/US/hɪlt/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #10,295 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: hilts

The hilt is the handle of a sword or a dagger. Grip the hilt, the hilt of his sword, an ornate hilt.

It is the whole handle assembly — the grip, the guard and the pommel — rather than the grip alone. Up to the hilt means as far as it will go, from a blade driven in to the handle, and it is now used almost entirely about money and commitment.

Rama · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Definitions of hilt

  1. 1nounhiltThe handle of a sword or a dagger.C1

    “The knight gripped his sword by the hilt and raised it high.”

hilt is a handle.

Where it comes from

Old English hilt names the handle, from a Germanic root. It has changed very little in a thousand years.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *kel- — to strike, cut

  2. Proto-Germanic

    *heltą

  3. Old English

    hilt

  4. Middle English

    hilt

  5. English, today

    hilt

From Middle English hilt, hilte, from Old English hilt, hilte, from Proto-Germanic heltą, heltǭ, heltō, hiltijō, (compare Old Norse hjalt, Old High German helza, Old Saxon helta), from Proto-Indo-European kel- (“to strike, cut”) (see holt).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

hilt in the wild

  • A kris can be divided into three parts: blade (bilah or wilah), hilt (hulu), and sheath (warangka).

    Kris

  • Since the Tuareg have an aversion to touching iron, the takoba's hilt, like many iron implements, is fully covered.

    Takoba

  • Alternatively the whole hilt can be covered in brass or silver sheathing.

    Takoba

  • The basket-hilted sword was generally in use as a military sword.

    Basket-hilted sword

  • The design of the hilt is a typical hook to prevent slipping when wet.

    Lahot

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.