play
noun
Play — the vigorous, skillful wielding of a weapon in combat or sport
Definition
The act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully
In depth
In this specific, somewhat archaic sense, play names the act of using a sword or other weapon vigorously and skillfully, a usage now largely confined to compound terms like 'swordplay.' It captures something of the older, almost sporting attitude toward combat skill, in which deadly proficiency was also, in its way, a kind of art.
Origin
This sense extends from the same Old English root, plegian, that gives the more familiar meaning of recreational play, reflecting an older worldview in which skilled, controlled combat with a weapon was conceived of partly as a refined and even artful performance, not merely brute violence — a martial discipline with its own grace, much as one might speak of a fencer's elegant 'play' today.
Usage examples
"The duelists' play was swift and precise, each thrust answered almost before it landed."
"Old fencing manuals described the play of rapier and dagger together as among the most demanding skills a swordsman could master."
"His play with the blade had been honed not in war but in years of careful, formal practice."
How to use it
This narrow sense of play is largely archaic outside the compound 'swordplay' and historical fiction set in earlier centuries; modern prose describing combat skill more naturally reaches for 'swordsmanship' or simply 'fighting.'
Related concepts
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