Is Fencing a Martial Art?

Hello and Happy New Year to you all! The title of this post is something that has caused me to ponder for many a year now. And I think I now have my personal answer which is, "No, even though I'd like it to be."
I've now come to the conclusion that Fencing these days is really a sport loosely based on combat, which is actually a world of difference from a martial art. In some ways I'm surprised that I'm not more disappointed by this personal revelation but in other ways I'm quite pleased. Why? Because it's fair to say that the vast majority of people only really take up fencing as a hobby, or as a social activity, or as a competitive discipline with winning in mind; which is perfectly fine. These folk don't want to do a martial art or they would have taken one up, therefore it is unreasonable of me to get frustrated when the vast majority of the fencing world raises a collective eyebrow at the concept of it being a martial art.
However, the fact that fencing isn't really a martial art doesn't mean I personally can't treat it as one and bring learnings and values that I whole-heartedly believe in from other disciplines into it. In fact, shouldn't we do that with life in general? A lot of the things I have learnt through fencing can be applied to my day job and to my life. It's these learnings that make me think that for some of us Fencing isn't a hobby, or a martial art; it's a way.