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The English term "rapier" comes from the French rapière and appears both in English and German, near-simultaneously, in the mid-16th century, for a light, long, pointed two-edged sword. It is a loan from Middle French espee rapiere , first recorded in 1474, a nickname meaning ' grater ' .
The épée (/ ˈ ɛ p eɪ, ˈ eɪ-/, French:; lit. ' sword '), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern épée derives from the 19th-century épée de combat, [1] a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. [2]
The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: claidheamh beag or claybeg, French: épée de cour, lit. “Sword of the court”) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier (espada ropera) of the late Renaissance.
"Pariser" small sword, from which the French foil was derived. The modern foil is the training weapon for the small-sword, the common sidearm of 18th century gentleman. Rapier and even longsword foils are also known to have been used, but their weight and use were very different. [13] [14]
The term "rapier" appeared in the English lexicon via the French épée rapière which either compared the weapon to a rasp or file; it may be a corruption of "rasping sword" [39] which referred to the sound the blade makes [40] when it comes into contact with another blade. There is no historical Italian equivalent to the English word "rapier ...
A main-gauche replica. The main-gauche (French for "left hand", pronounced [mɛ̃ ɡuʃ]) was used mainly to assist in defense by parrying enemy thrusts, while the dominant hand wielded a rapier or similar longer weapon intended for one-handed use. [6]
Its lighter weight, shorter length and superior balance, compared to the rapier, allowed faster and more accurate movement of the blade. This enabled the fencer to achieve a more precisely targeted thrust on an adversary. [1] The point where the blade of a sword joins the tang was a recognized weak point.
The sabre is a light cutting and thrusting weapon that targets the entire body above the waist, including the head and both the hands. Sabre is the newest weapon to be used. Like the foil, the maximum legal weight of a sabre is 500 grams. The hand guard on the sabre extends from hilt to the point at which the blade connects to the pommel.