A physical fight where two people punch each other with their fists, without weapons.
Compound of 'fist' (from Old English 'fyst') and 'fight' (from Old English 'feohtan'). The compound term emerged in the 1500s as English speakers needed to distinguish hand-to-hand combat from armed combat.
In Old Norse saga literature, champions were honored for winning fistfights, and boxing evolved from this ancient sport, so a word that sounds simple actually connects to thousands of years of human culture where fighting with bare fists was a respected skill.
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