Editing Rapier (section)

==Terminology==
The origin of the name 'rapier' is Spanish. Its name is a "derisive" description of the Spanish term {{lang|es|ropera}}. The Spanish term refers to a sword used with clothes ({{lang|es|espada ropera}}, {{gloss|dress sword}}), due to it being used as an accessory for clothing, usually for fashion and as a self-defense weapon. The English term "rapier" comes from the French {{lang|fr|rapière}} and appears both in English and German, near-simultaneously, in the mid-16th century, for a light, long, pointed two-edged sword. It is a loan from [[Middle French]] {{lang|frm|espee rapiere}}, first recorded in 1474, a nickname meaning {{gloss|grater}}.<ref name=TFLi>[http://stella.atilf.fr/Dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/visusel.exe?11;s=2841020025;r=1;nat=;sol=0; TFLi] "1474 (Arch., JJ 195, pièce 1155 ds GDF.); 1485 rapiere (Archives du Nord, B 1703, f o 100 ds IGLF). Dér. de râpe*, la poignée trouée de cette épée ayant été comparée à une râpe (FEW t. 16, p. 672b, note 6)."</ref>

The 16th-century German {{lang|de|rappier}} described what was considered a foreign weapon, imported from Spain, Italy, and France.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joachim |last=Meyers |title=A Thorough Description of the Free Knightly and Noble Art of Combat with All Customary Weapons|year=1570 }}</ref> [[Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange|Du Cange]] in his [[Middle Latin]] dictionary cites a form {{lang|la|Rapperia}} from a Latin text of 1511. He envisages a derivation {{etymology|gre|''ραπίζειν'' (rapízein)|to strike}}.<ref>[[Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange|Du Cange]], ''Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis'', s.v.:
:'''RAPER,''' Gladius longior et vilioris pretii, Gallice ''Raper''. Monstræ Factæ apud Chassagniam: ''Claudius Jornandi habet unam bonam Rapperiam et unam dagam.'' Ducit Borellus a Græco ῥαπίζειν, Cædere.
:''Raper'' adjective sumitur, in Lit. remiss. ann. 1474, ex Reg. 195. Chartoph. reg. ch. 1155: ''Icellui Pierre donna au suppliant de ladite espée Raper sur la teste, etc.''</ref> [[Johann Christoph Adelung|Adelung]] in his 1798 dictionary records a double meaning for the German verb {{lang|de|rappieren}}: {{gloss|to fence with rapiers}} on one hand, and {{gloss|to rasp, grate (specifically of tobacco leaves)}} on the other.

The terms used by the Spanish, Italian and French masters during the heyday of this weapon were simply the equivalent of "sword", i.e. {{lang|es|espada}}, spada and {{lang|fr|épée}} ({{lang|fr|espée}}). When it was necessary to specify the type of sword the Spanish used {{lang|es|espada ropera}}. The name was registered for the first time in las Coplas de la panadera, by Juan de Mena, written between 1445 and 1450 approximately.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Poetas cortesanos del siglo XV|last=Onrubia de Mendoza|first=José|publisher=Editorial Bruguera S.A|year=1975|isbn=84-02-04053-5|location=Barcelona}}</ref>

Clements (1997) categorizes thrusting swords with poor cutting abilities as rapiers, and swords with both good thrusting and cutting abilities as [[Spada da lato|cut-and-thrust swords]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Clements |title=Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Book Of Rapiers And Cut And Thrust Swords And Their Use |publisher=Paladin Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87364-919-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9YBAAAACAAJ}}</ref>

The term "rapier" is also applied by archaeologists to an unrelated type of Bronze Age sword.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Molloy |first1=Barry P. C. |title=Hunting Warriors: The Transformation of Weapons, Combat Practices and Society during the Bronze Age in Ireland |journal=European Journal of Archaeology |volume=20 |issue=2 |date=9 January 2017 |pages=280–316 |doi=10.1017/eaa.2016.8|doi-access=free }}</ref>