escrime (French)
Where does "escrime" come from?
The French word 'escrime' originates from the Old French 'escremie,' which referred to armed combat. This term traces back to the Frankish verb '*skirmjan,' and was later refined through the influence of the Italian 'scrima' to describe the modern sport of fencing.
Full etymology tree
- escrime (French), 'fencing (sport)'
- inherited escremie (Old French), 'fencing (armed combat)'
- deverbal escremir (Old French)
- inherited *skirmjan (Frankish)
- deverbal escremir (Old French)
- influence scrima (Italian), 'synonym of scherma'
- inherited escremie (Old French), 'fencing (armed combat)'
Ancestors
- escremie (Old French)
Descendants and derived words
- escrimer (French)
- escrimeur (French)
- escrimeuse (French)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris