couteaun.
/kuːˈtəʊ/ A large knife worn as a weapon. (Frequently used in English in 18th cent.) couteau de chasse (F.): hunting-knife.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > knife or dagger > [noun]
saxa800
knifec1175
pricka1350
awla1387
daggerc1386
puncheonc1425
custil1447
punch?1480
murdererc1500
pointela1522
poniard1533
pounce1545
poignado?a1549
slaughmess1548
dirk1557
pistolesea1566
parazone1623
coutel1647
chiv1673
couteau1677
cuttoe1678
sticker1772
cultel1824
skewer1838
snicker1847
shiv1915
chib1929
1677 London Gaz. No. 1198. 4 A small Coûteau walking Sword.
1743 W. Shenstone Wks. & Lett. (1777) III. 73 In the Piazzas, Covent Garden, [pick-pockets]..come in large bodies, armed with couteaus.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xxi. 98 A couteau generally by his side.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xxix. 261 Drawing a large cuteau from his side-pocket.
1782 Fashionable Follies I. 153 They each put on a long sword, instead of a couteau.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. x. 311 A gentleman, plainly dressed in a riding habit..without any arms except a couteau-de-chasse.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1677