Excalibur

E1X8C3A1L1I1B3U1R1
/ɛksˈkæ.lɪ.bɚ/

proper noun

The legendary sword of King Arthur, having magical properties.

Less commonScrabble 20

Meanings

proper nounExcalibur (plural Excaliburs)

plural Excaliburs

  1. Arthurian legendThe legendary sword of King Arthur, having magical properties.

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

    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
    2 more examples

    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.

    1974, Stephen D. Isaacs, Jews and American Politics, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →ISBN, page 53

    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.

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

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Old WelshCaledbulch
  2. Medieval LatinCaliburnus
  3. Old FrenchEscalibor
  4. Middle EnglishExcalaber
  5. EnglishExcalibur

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’.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic إِكْسْكَالِيبُر
  • إِكْسْكَالِيبُر (ʔikskālībur)Legendary sword
Catalan Excàlibur
  • ExcàliburLegendary sword
Chinese Mandarin 王者之劍 /王者之剑
  • 王者之劍 /王者之剑 (Wángzhězhījiàn)Legendary sword
Czech Excalibur
  • ExcaliburLegendary sword
Esperanto Ekskaliburo
  • EkskaliburoLegendary sword
French Excalibur
  • ExcaliburLegendary sword
Greek Εξκάλιμπερ
  • Εξκάλιμπερ (Exkálimper)Legendary sword
Hebrew אקסקליבר
  • אקסקליבר (Aqsqalybur)Legendary sword
Italian Excalibur
  • ExcaliburLegendary sword
Japanese エクスカリバー
  • エクスカリバー (Ekusukaribā)Legendary sword
Korean 엑스칼리버
  • 엑스칼리버 (Ekseukallibeo)Legendary sword
Latin Caliburnus
  • CaliburnusLegendary sword
Polish Ekskalibur, Excalibur
  • EkskaliburLegendary sword
  • ExcaliburLegendary sword
Portuguese Excalibur
  • ExcaliburLegendary sword
Russian Экска́либур
  • Экска́либур (Ekskálibur)Legendary sword
Spanish Excálibur
  • ExcáliburLegendary sword
Thai ดาบเอ็กซ์คาลิเบอร์, เอกซ์แคลิเบอร์
  • ดาบเอ็กซ์คาลิเบอร์ (dàap èkkaalíber)Legendary sword
  • เอกซ์แคลิเบอร์ (èkkaalíber)Legendary sword
Welsh Caledfwlch
  • CaledfwlchLegendary sword
Cite this entry
APA

Excalibur. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Excalibur

MLA

“Excalibur.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Excalibur. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Excalibur,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Excalibur.

Source: Excalibur on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.