Also 9 erron. xy-. [L., a. Gr. ξιφίας, f. ξιφος sword.]
1. A swordfish, esp. X. gladius; in mod. Zool., the genus of fishes of which this is the common species, characterized by having the upper jaw prolonged into a sword-like weapon.
1667. Phil. Trans., II. 492. Having … dissected the head of a Xiphias or Sword-fish.
1763. C. Smart, Song to David, lxxv. Strong through the turbulent profound Shoots xiphias to his aim.
1860. Wraxall, Life in Sea, v. 108. The heel of an East Indiaman was once bored by a twenty-foot Xyphias so violently, that the sword went in up to the root, and the fish was killed by the force of the blow.
2. Astron. A southern constellation, also called Dorado or the Sword-fish.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Constellation.
1771. [see SWORD-FISH 2].
Hence Xiphiad, a fish of the family Xiphiidæ.
1859–62. Sir J. Richardson, etc., Mus. Nat. Hist. (1868), II. 137. Xiphiads or Sword-fishes.
