Bohemian earspoon

noun

A polearm with a long, broad, socketed spearhead, with a guard of two outward-protruding "ears" at the base of the head, used for hunting and in combat.

Meanings

nounBohemian earspoon (plural Bohemian earspoons)

plural Bohemian earspoons · alternative Bohemian ear-spoon · alternative Bohemian ear spoon

  1. historicalA polearm with a long, broad, socketed spearhead, with a guard of two outward-protruding "ears" at the base of the head, used for hunting and in combat.

    Pole arms can be roughly divided into several categories, based on the types of heads they have mounted: Thrusting weapons (awl pike, boar spear, Bohemian earspoon, chauve souris, feather staff, fork, fourche a crochet, korseke, langue, … and runca)

    2014, Carl Granberg, David Perry on Game Design: A Brainstorming Toolbox, page 755
    1 more example

    Called originally 'kùsa-scythe' and later "sudlice," it doubled as both a stabbing and cutting weapon, developing later into the "ušata sudlice" — Bohemian earspoon, more suitable for combat — thanks to side spikes (ears), acting as end stops, [as a result of which] it did not penetrate too deep.

    2016, Syed Ramsey, Tools of War: History of Weapons in Medieval Times, →ISBN

Origin

The weapon originated in Bohemia, the two protruding stops or lugs at the base of the weapon's head were likened to ears, and the entire spearhead with ears was fancifully likened to an earspoon (“ear pick”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech ušatá sudlice
  • ušatá sudliceweapon
German Böhmischer Ohrlöffel
  • Böhmischer Ohrlöffelweapon
Cite this entry
APA

Bohemian earspoon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bohemian%20earspoon

MLA

“Bohemian earspoon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bohemian%20earspoon. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bohemian earspoon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bohemian%20earspoon.

Source: Bohemian earspoon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.