bohort

B3O1H4O1R1T1

noun

An early type of jousting competition in medieval Europe.

OriginOld French bohort ← German Buhurt ← Middle Low German bohurt →
Scrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounbohort (plural bohorts)

plural bohorts

  1. An early type of jousting competition in medieval Europe.

    Bohorts used either blunted weapons, mock weapons, or no weapons at all, and as such were safe enough to have the sanction of the Church.

    2011, Ben Hubbard, Gladiators
    2 more examples

    Bohorts were the spontaneous amusements of the young. They were not in general formally arranged and organised; most bohorts just happened.

    2005, David Crouch, Tournament, page 113

    When the kings, and also their vassals, came to their horses, mighty Volker advised that they should hold a bohort [translating bûhurdieren] according to their land's custom.

    2010, anonymous author, translated by Cyril Edwards, The Nibelungenlied, Oxford, page 170

Origin

  1. Middle High Germanbūhurt
  2. Middle Low Germanbohurt
  3. GermanBuhurt
  4. Old Frenchbohort
  5. Englishbohort

From Old French bohort or German Buhurt (Low German Buhurd), ultimately from Middle Low German bohurt, burt, or Middle High German būhurt, bēhurt, later the term for a ”tournament-melee”, a medieval tournament game, in which mock combat is conducted between two groups of knights, alternatively a game in which an attack was made on a pretend fortress, but also a synonym for tournament in general. Cognates includes Old Italian bohordicum; French bohourt (Old French behort, bohort, bohourt, bouhourd); Swedish bohord (Old Swedish bohordh, behordh); Icelandic burt (Old Norse burt). Also compare the verbal form (“to bohort”): Old French behorder, bohorder, bouhourder; Middle High German buhurdieren; Middle Low German borderen; Swedish bordera (Old Swedish bordera).

More words from Old French, German, Middle Low German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bohort. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bohort

MLA

“bohort.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bohort. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bohort,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bohort.

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