bonspiel

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UK/ˈbɒnspiːl/US/ˈbɑnspil/Canada/ˈbɒnspil/

noun

A tournament in the sport of curling.

OriginScots bonspiel ← Middle Scots bonspele →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounbonspiel (plural bonspiels)

plural bonspiels

  1. A tournament in the sport of curling.

    […] and he never took his ee aff them, or said another word, or gave another glance at the bonspiel, though there was the finest fun amang the curlers ever was seen; […]

    1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC

Origin

  1. Middle Scotsbonspele
  2. Scotsbonspiel
  3. Englishbonspiel

Borrowed from Scots bonspiel, from Middle Scots bonspele, possibly from Dutch bond (“league”) + spel (“game”).

More words from Scots, Middle Scots

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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