Sabres

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A kind of curved sword known for its single-edged design and effectiveness in swift, slashing combat scenarios
2. A weapon characterized by a slightly curved, single-edged blade used historically in cavalry fighting ; a light, sharp sword used in the sport of fencing with a flexible blade and a knuckle guard
3. A sword with a curved blade designed to slash rather than thrust, traditionally wielded by mounted soldiers ; a modern foil-like sword employed in competitive fencing that allows scoring with the edge and the tip

Etymology: The plural "sabres" is simply the plural of "sabre", so the story belongs to the singular. The word travelled a long way before reaching English: it came into French from German "Säbel", which had itself been taken from Polish "szabla", and the Polish form passed on from Hungarian "szablya". Hungarian cavalry, whose curved swords were admired across Europe, is the likely route by which the name spread westward, though the exact chain of transmission is not fully documented. The Slavic and Hungarian forms share a sound pattern that points to a common eastern European source, and related words survive in Danish "sabel", Russian "sablya", and Serbo-Croatian "sabalja". Together they show how a single weapon name moved across much of the continent, each language adjusting the sound to suit its own speech. English borrowed the word from French, so it arrived already carrying the shape of a foreign military term.

Synonyms: swords, cutlasses