Glossary of Italian Fencing Terms
From Swordschool
Jump to navigationJump to search
The table below includes words that are either unique to fencing manuscripts (Fiore or Vadi’s), or have a specific technical meaning in a fencing context. There are still some areas of debate amongst scholars of these arts; where this is the case, it is noted in the comments. The translations are not necessarily applicable to modern Italian or other historical sources. Students should also note that the terms are often spelled several different ways in the original sources.
Italian grammar notes:
- Nouns ending in -e (singular) → -i (plural): fendente / fendenti
- Nouns ending in -o (singular) → -i (plural): colpo / colpi
- Nouns ending in -a (singular) → -e (plural): ligadura / ligadure
Terms are given in the form most commonly used in Fiore or Vadi (e.g. Longa, zogho).
You can download this glossary into a printable PDF here: Glossary of Italian Fencing Terms (PDF)
See also our Glossary of Academic Terms
Glossary
| Italian | English | Primary Reference | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abrazare | To wrestle | Abrazare | |
| Accrescere | To step forwards without passing | Fiore's Footwork | |
| Bicorno | Two-horned | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. |
| Breve / posta breve | Short; short guard | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. |
| Cinghiare / cinghiaro | Wild boar | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. |
| Colpo / colpi | A blow or strike | Fiore's 7 Blows of the Sword | |
| Corona | Crown | Vadi: Longsword: Corona (Fol 17r) | Name of a specific guard. See also Fiore's Frontale, here: Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards |
| Coverta | Cover; parry | ||
| Destro / destra | On the right | ||
| Discrescere | To step back without passing | Fiore's Footwork | |
| Donna | Woman | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. See also Vadi's posta di donna, here: Vadi: Longsword: Posta di Donna (Fol 16r) |
| Dritto / diritto / derito | Right; forehand; true | Filo or taglio dritto is the true edge | |
| Elzo | Hilt; crossguard | ||
| Falcon | Falcon | Vadi: Longsword: Posta di Falcon (Fol 16v) | Name of a specific guard (Vadi only). |
| Falso | False edge; back edge | ||
| Fendente | Descending blow | Fiore's 7 Blows of the Sword | Usually qualified by mandritto/dritto or roverso. |
| Fenestra | Window | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. See also Vadi's Fenestra, here: Vadi: Longsword: Vera Finestra (Fol 17r) |
| Fora / for di strada | Out of the way | Fiore's Footwork]] | Usually used with footwork (e.g. passo fora di strada) |
| Frontale | Frontal | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. See also Vadi's Frontal, here: Vadi: Longsword: Frontale (Fol 17v) |
| Gioco / giocho stretto | Close or constrained play | Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Stretto | |
| Gioco largo | Wide play | Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Largo | |
| Gioco / giocho | Play | A single sequence or tactical state | |
| Incrosare / incroce | Crossing; parry | ||
| Largo | Wide | Tactical state where one is free to strike. See also Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Largo. | |
| Lunga / Longa | Long | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. (e.g. Vadi: Longsword: Lunga con Spada Curta (Fol 17r)) |
| Mandritto | Forehand | See dritto | |
| Mantener | Grip; Handle | Such as the handle of the sword (i.e. the grip) | |
| Meza spada / mezza spada | Half sword | Crossing near the middle of the blades | |
| Mezana porta di ferro | Middle iron door | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. |
| Mezano / mezani | Middle blows | Fiore's 7 Blows of the Sword | Horizontal blows |
| Passare | To pass (step) | Fiore's Footwork | |
| Passo | A pass, a passing step | Fiore's Footwork | Also the distance between the feet when standing. |
| Porta di ferro | Iron door | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | May be tutta, mezana or (in Vadi only) piana terena. See also Vadi: Longsword: Mezana Porta di Ferro (Fol 16r) and Vadi: Longsword: Porta di Ferro Piana Terrena (Fol 16v) |
| Posta / poste | Position or guard | Used more commonly than guardia | |
| Quatro dita | Four fingers | Unit of measurement | |
| Rebattere | To beat aside; parry | ||
| Remedio | Remedy | Defence against an attack. | |
| Rendopiare / reddopiare | Redouble | Not the Bolognese ridoppio | |
| Riverso / roverso | Backhand | ||
| Rompere | To break | As in breaking the thrust, here: Breaking the Thrust drill | |
| Rota | Turn; rising blow | Vadi: Longsword: Blows (Fol 15v) | Used by Vadi only. See also his chapter XV. |
| Sagitaria | Archer | Guard positions (Fiore vs Vadi differ). Vadi's with the longsword is out of armour, here: Vadi: Longsword: Sagitaria (Fol 16v), and with the pollax here: Vadi: Pollax: Sagitaria (Fol 24r). Fiore's is in armour, here: FioreGettyMS:Fol 33r | |
| Scambiare | To exchange | Exchange of thrust | As in exchanging the thrust, Fiore's 9th play of the 2nd master of the zogho largo. |
| Sinestro | On the left | ||
| Somesso | Width of a fist. | Unit of measurement. Used by Vadi to describe the hilt of the dagger, here: Vadi: Dagger: Mesura de Daga (Fol 37v) | |
| Sottano | Rising blow | Fiore's 7 Blows of the Sword | Vadi calls the rising blow "rota" (see above). |
| Stancho | Left (side or foot) | Modern Italian: "tired". Used specifically in the text of the "colpo di villano" play, here: Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Largo | |
| Strada | Way | The direct line between combatants | |
| Stramazone | Whirling blow | From the wrist. Used by Capoferro and others. Shown on video here: Rapier Basic Footwork drills | |
| Stretto / stretta / strette | Close; constrained | Tactical state. See "zogho stretto" | |
| Taglio / tagli | Cut; cutting edge | ||
| Traverso / ala traversa | Across; diagonal | Used with footwork, as in "passo ala traversa". Fiore's Footwork | |
| Tondo | Round | Horizontal blow | |
| Tornare | To return | Fiore's Footwork | Fiore's specific usage: to bring the front foot back towards the rear foot. |
| Vera croce | True cross | FioreGettyMS:Fol 32v | One of Fiore's guards of the sword in armour. |
| Volta | Turn | Fiore's Footwork | Fiore describes stable, half, and whole turns. |
| Vista / visteggiare | Feint | Term used by Vadi and Giganti (1606). | |
| Volante / volanti | Flying | Vadi: Longsword: Blows (Fol 15v) | Horizontal blow; Vadi only. |
| Zenghiaro | Wild boar | Fiore: The 12 Longsword Guards | Name of a specific guard. See also Vadi's two versions: Vadi: Longsword: Cinghiale (Fol 17r) and Vadi: Longsword: Cinghiale di Fora (Fol 17v). |
| Zogho largo | Wide play | Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Largo | See also gioco largo |
| Zogho stretto | Close play | Fiore: The Plays of the Zogho Stretto | See also gioco stretto |
