Excalibur

See also: Excálibur

English

Etymology

From Middle English Excalaber, from Old French Escalibor, Escaliborc, prothetic form of Calliborc, alteration of Calibourne, from Medieval Latin Caliburnus (Geoffrey of Monmouth, ca. 1136), influenced by calibs (“steel”) (for chalybs), alteration of Old Welsh Caledbulch (compare modern Caledfwlch), compound of caled (“hard”) and bwlch (“cleft, crack”). Related to the Irish legendary sword Caladbolg, literally ‘hard-belly’, i.e. ‘voracious’.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛksˈkæ.lɪ.bɚ/

Proper noun

Excalibur (plural Excaliburs)

1. (Arthurian legend) The legendary sword of King Arthur, having magical properties.
   • 1974, Stephen D. Isaacs, Jews and American Politics, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 53:

     Until recently, suppression of ethnicity has perhaps been the leading characteristic of the trend of thought of these Jewish intellectuals. Some, like Noam Chomsky and I. F. Stone, have been considered by some Jews to be so suppressed—or at least so overcompensating for their being Jewish—as to be regarded as anti-Semitic on some issues. Such men flaunt their universalism like Excaliburs of truth and objectivity.

   • 1998, Imogen Stubbs, “The Undiscovered Road: Northumberland”, in Dea Birkett, Sara Wheeler, editors, Amazonian: The Penguin Book of Women’s New Travel Writing, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 228:

     And we would see fish swimming among the tall bulrushes that rose like Excaliburs out of the lake.

   • 2017, James May, The Reassembler, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 19:

     You and I, we are not alone, and our screwdrivers are our flashing Excaliburs as we sally forth to make small parts of the fragmented world whole again.

Usage notes

In the Arthurian legends, young Arthur is able to draw the Sword in the Stone, which proves that it is his destiny to become king. When he is a king, the Lady of the Lake presents him a sword. In some early versions of the legend Excalibur is the Sword in the Stone; in other versions it is the sword presented by the Lady of the Lake. In more recent retellings, these two swords have been identified with each other.

Translations

Legendary sword

• Arabic: إِكْسْكَالِيبُر (ʔikskālībur)
• Breton: Kaledvoulc'h
• Catalan: Excàlibur
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 王者之劍／王者之剑 (Wángzhězhījiàn)

• Cornish: Calesvol
• Czech: Excalibur m
• Esperanto: Ekskaliburo
• French: Excalibur (fr) f
• Greek: Εξκάλιμπερ (el) n (Exkálimper)
• Hebrew: אקסקליבר (Aqsqalybur)
• Italian: Excalibur f
• Japanese: エクスカリバー (Ekusukaribā)
• Korean: 엑스칼리버 (Ekseukallibeo)
• Latin: Caliburnus m
• Macedonian: Екска́либур m (Ekskálibur)
• Marathi: एक्सकॅलिबर f (eksakĕlibar)
• Middle English: Excalaber
• Portuguese: Excalibur f
• Russian: Экска́либур m (Ekskálibur)
• Spanish: Excálibur
• Thai: ดาบเอ็กซ์คาลิเบอร์ (dàap èkkaalíber), เอกซ์แคลิเบอร์ (èkkaalíber)
• Welsh: Caledfwlch

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Excalibur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛk.skaˈli.bur/
• Rhymes: -ibur
• Syllabification: Ex‧ca‧li‧bur

Proper noun

Excalibur m inan

1. Alternative form of Ekskalibur

Declension

Declension of Excalibur

	singular
nominative	Excalibur
genitive	Excaliburu
dative	Excaliburowi
accusative	Excalibur
instrumental	Excaliburem
locative	Excaliburze
vocative	Excaliburze

Further reading

• Excalibur in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Excalibur.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.ka.liˈbuʁ/ [is.ka.liˈbuh], /isˈka.li.buʁ/ [isˈka.li.buh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.ka.liˈbuʁ/ [is.ka.liˈbuh], /isˈka.li.buʁ/ [isˈka.li.buh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /is.ka.liˈbuɾ/, /isˈka.li.buɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃ.ka.liˈbuʁ/ [iʃ.ka.liˈbuχ], /iʃˈka.li.buʁ/ [iʃˈka.li.buχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.ka.liˈbuɻ/, /isˈka.li.buɻ/

Proper noun

Excalibur f

1. (Arthurian legend) Excalibur (King Arthur’s sword)