Sword vs. Sabre

By Jaxson

Main Difference

The main difference between Sword and Sabre is that the Sword is a bladed weapon and Sabre is a sword.

  • Sword

    A sword is a bladed weapon intended for slashing or thrusting that is longer than a knife or dagger, consisting of a long blade attached to a hilt. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographic region under consideration. The blade can be straight or curved. Thrusting swords have a pointed tip on the blade, and tend to be straighter; slashing swords have a sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade, and are more likely to be curved. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing.

    Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the earliest specimens date to about 1600 BC. The later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha, as it developed in the Late Roman army, became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration Period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages, developed into the classical arming sword with crossguard. The word sword continues the Old English, sweord.The use of a sword is known as swordsmanship or, in a modern context, as fencing. In the Early Modern period, western sword design diverged into roughly two forms, the thrusting swords and the sabers.

    The thrusting swords such as the rapier and eventually the smallsword were designed to impale their targets quickly and inflict deep stab wounds. Their long and straight yet light and well balanced design made them highly maneuverable and deadly in a duel but fairly ineffective when used in a slashing or chopping motion. A well aimed lunge and thrust could end a fight in seconds with just the sword’s point, leading to the development of a fighting style which closely resembles modern fencing.

    The saber (sabre) and similar blades such as the cutlass were built more heavily and were more typically used in warfare. Built for slashing and chopping at multiple enemies, often from horseback, the saber’s long curved blade and slightly forward weight balance gave it a deadly character all its own on the battlefield. Most sabers also had sharp points and double-edged blades, making them capable of piercing soldier after soldier in a cavalry charge. Sabers continued to see battlefield use until the early 20th century. The US Navy kept tens of thousands of sturdy cutlasses in their armory well into World War II and many were issued to marines in the Pacific as jungle machetes.

    Non-European weapons called “sword” include single-edged weapons such as the Middle Eastern scimitar, the Chinese dao and the related Japanese katana. The Chinese jìan is an example of a non-European double-edged sword, like the European models derived from the double-edged Iron Age sword.

  • Sabre

    The sabre (British English) or saber (American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central-Eastern European cavalry such as the hussars, the sabre became widespread in Western Europe in the Thirty Years’ War. Lighter sabres also became popular with infantry of the late 17th century. In the 19th century, models with less curving blades became common and were also used by heavy cavalry. The last sabre issued to US cavalry was the Patton saber of 1913. Szabla wz. 34 was the last sabre issued to the Polish cavalry, in 1934.

    The military sabre was used as a duelling weapon in academic fencing in the 19th century, giving rise to a discipline of modern sabre fencing (introduced in the 1896 Summer Olympics) loosely based on the characteristics of the historical weapon in that it allows for cuts as well as thrusts.

Wikipedia
  • Sword (noun)

    A long-bladed weapon with a hilt, and usually a pommel and cross-guard, which is designed to stab, slash, and/or hack.

  • Sword (noun)

    A suit in the minor arcana in tarot.

  • Sword (noun)

    A card of this suit.

  • Sword (noun)

    One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended.

  • Sword (noun)

    The weapon, often used as a heraldic charge.

  • Sabre (noun)

    A light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point.

  • Sabre (noun)

    A modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre.

  • Sabre (verb)

    To strike or kill with a sabre.

Wiktionary

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