Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical A type of halberd used by mediaeval foot-soldiers.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From brown + bill ‘sword’.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word brown-bill.

Examples

  • “I am just now like the half-pike, or spontoon of Achilles, one end of which could wound and the other cure — a property belonging neither to Spanish pike, brown-bill, partizan, halberd, Lochaber-axe, or indeed any other modern staff-weapon whatever.”

    A Legend of Montrose 2008

  • The sentinel who was stationed there, armed with a brown-bill, or species of partisan, reported that he had heard no motion in the apartment during the whole night.

    Castle Dangerous 2008

  • He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his country. ''

    Ivanhoe 1892

  • ` ` I am just now like the half-pike, or spontoon of Achilles, one end of which could wound, and the other cure --- a property belonging neither to Spanish pike, brown-bill, partizan, halberd,

    A Legend of Montrose 1871

  • The sentinel who was stationed there, armed with a brown-bill, or species of partisan, reported that he had heard no motion in the apartment during the whole night.

    Waverley Novels — Volume 12 Walter Scott 1801

  • = brown-bill =: a weapon consisting of a long staff with a hook-shaped blade at the top.

    The Literary World Seventh Reader Hetty Sibyl Browne 1907

  • He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his country.”

    Ivanhoe 2004

  • English ancestry with the [v] glaive and [v] brown-bill, the good old weapons of the country. "

    The Literary World Seventh Reader Hetty Sibyl Browne 1907

  • He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his country. "

    Ivanhoe. A Romance 1819

  • He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his country. "

    Ivanhoe Walter Scott 1801

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.