wapinschaw

W4A1P3I1N1S1C3H4A1W4
/ˈwɑpɪnʃɔː/

noun

An exhibition of weapons, according to the rank of the individual, by all persons bearing arms; formerly made at certain seasons in each district.

OriginScots wappen + schaw →
Scrabble 23
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Meanings

nounwapinschaw (plural wapinschaws)

plural wapinschaws · alternative wapenshaw · alternative wapinshaw · alternative weapon-schaw · alternative weaponshaw · alternative weaponshow

  1. ScotlandhistoricalAn exhibition of weapons, according to the rank of the individual, by all persons bearing arms; formerly made at certain seasons in each district.

    The sheriff of the county of Lanark was holding the wappen-schaw of a wild district, called the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, on a haugh, or level plain, near to a royal borough, […]

    1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 35–36
  2. ScotlandhistoricalA volunteer meeting or shooting competition inspired by this traditional exhibition of weapons.

Origin

  1. Scotswappen + schaw
  2. Englishwapinschaw

Ultimately from Old English, via Scots wappen + schaw. See weapon and show.

More words from Scots

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch wapenschouw
  • wapenschouwexhibition of weapons
Swedish vapensyn
  • vapensynexhibition of weapons
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“wapinschaw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wapinschaw. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wapinschaw,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wapinschaw.

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