The word 'fence' was originally a shortening of the Middle English 'defens', that came from an Italian word, 'defensio', in origin a Latin word. The first known use of defens in reference to English swordsmanship is in William Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor: 'Alas sir, I cannot fence.

The European dueling sword in the narrow sense is a basket and cage hilted weapon in use specifically in duels from the late 17th to the 19th century. It evolved through several forms of the rapier to the smallsword — reflecting the evolution from a cutting style of swordplay to a thrusting style ('foining'). This was a result of increasing specialization in their use to the duelling field and the social stigma attached to carrying and using swords associated with the actual "work" of warfare. The smallsword and the last stage of the rapier were made possible only by metallurgical advances in the seventeenth century[citation needed].

The foil was invented in France as a training weapon in the middle of the 18th century in order to practice fast and elegant thrust fencing. Fencers blunted the point by wrapping a foil around the blade or fastening a knob on the point ("blossom", French fleuret). In addition to practising, some fencers took away the protection and used the sharp foil for duels.

Dueling went into sharp decline after World War I. After World War II, dueling went out of use in Europe except for rare exceptions. Training for a duel, once fashionable for males of aristocratic backgrounds (although fencing masters such as Hope discuss how many people would only ever take one or two lessons and consider themselves trained.), all but disappeared, along with the classes themselves. Fencing continued as a sport, with tournaments and championships. However, the need to prepare for a duel with "sharps" vanished, changing the emphasis in training and technique.

Starting with épée in the 1930s (foil was electrified in 1950s, sabre in 1980s), side judges were replaced by an electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. The scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, and more touches to the back and flank than were possible with human judges.

Three weapons survive in modern competitive fencing: foil, épée, and sabre. The spadroon and the heavy cavalry-style sabre, both of which saw widespread competitive use in the 19th century, fell into disfavour in the early 20th century with the rising popularity of the lighter and faster weapon used today. The singlestick was featured in the 1904 Olympic Games, but it was already declining in popularity at that time. Bayonet fencing experienced a somewhat slower decline, with competitions organized by some armed forces as late as the 1940s and 1950s.