What does tourneying mean?
Tourneying is the present participle of tourney, a largely literary or historical word for taking part in a tournament, especially the mounted, lance-bearing contests formerly known as jousts. In its verb use, it describes competitors engaged in such an event. In adjectival use, it can characterize the people, horses, or equipment involved. The word carries a medieval, ceremonial atmosphere rather than the broad modern sense of competing in any organized contest. For general modern competition, tournament or competing is more natural; tourneying is chiefly useful when evoking chivalric pageantry or the specific history of knightly sport. The form is uncommon in everyday speech but appears in historical narration, antiquarian writing, descriptions of heraldry, and accounts of medieval recreation. Its value to a modern reader lies in preserving the vocabulary of that older world: the ring of competitors, the clash of lances, the standards, and the spectators, all compressed into a word suggesting both competition and spectacle.
To engage in a tourney, especially a jousting tournament in which mounted contestants compete with lances.
"The champions spent the festival tourneying before the assembled court."
A literary or historical verb; competing is the usual modern equivalent in general contexts.
Engaging in or relating to a tourney.
"The hall displayed banners commemorating famous tourneying knights."
Usually encountered as a participial adjective before a noun and especially associated with medieval pageantry.
Long before esports, tourneying meant armored knights charging one another with leveled lances.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tourneying come from?
Tourneying is the English present participle of tourney. The noun came through Middle English from Anglo-French tourney and Old French tornei, with a parallel form in Medieval Latin tournamentum, ultimately associated with Latin tornare, “to turn.” The same Romance root produced tournament and tourneyer, while tournamenting belongs to the same derived family.
Related word forms
How tourneying is actually used
Tourneying is literary, archaic, or antiquarian rather than ordinary modern usage. It has a ceremonial and medieval atmosphere; for general modern competition, competing is more natural.
Easily confused with tourneying
Touring means traveling or performing in different places, whereas tourneying means competing in a tourney or jousting tournament.