defial

plural defials

1. countableobsoleterareuncountableDefiance.
2. countableobsoleteuncountableA declaration of war.

   1 more example

   The customs of Scandinavia did not forbid, on the contrary, they required, the kind reception of a man whose defial was accepted. This implied sufficient equality of rank to entitle either party to the other's hospitality. Those would drink against each other over night, who were to fight against each other in the morning.

   1828, William Taylor, Historic Survey of the German Poetry, Vol. 1, pages 38-39