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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 '. [8]
In modern French, the term poignard has come to be defined as synonymous with dague, the general term for "dagger", [5] and in English the term poniard has gradually evolved into a term for any small, slender dagger. [6] In literary usage it may also mean the actual act of stabbing or piercing with a dagger. [7]
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 .
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 ...
The 380mm/45 Modèle 1935 gun was a heavy naval gun of the French Navy. It was the largest calibre naval gun ever fielded in French service. It was the largest calibre naval gun ever fielded in French service.
Flamberge ("flaming"), from the French "flamber", is a term with many connotations, including swords without the flamed-blade. The term is a frequent name or alias for swords in medieval chansons de geste and romances, where it often just means a large sword. [6]
In the European High Middle Ages, the typical sword (sometimes academically categorized as the knightly sword, arming sword, or in full, knightly arming sword) was a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed, cruciform (i.e., cross-shaped) hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimetres (28 to 31 in).
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.