Encyclopedia > Sabre

  Article Content

Sabre

The sabre (or saber) is a European backsword with a distinct curvature and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger. The length of sabres varied, but they were always made to be worn in a scabbard hanging from the waist.

The origins of the sabre are somewhat unclear, and it may come from designs such as the falchion or the scimitar. Originally, the sabre was used as a cavalry weapon that gradually came to replace the various straight bladed cuttting sword types on the battlefield. As time went on, sabres became insignia of rank in many armies, and dress use of sabres continue to this day in some armed services around the world.

During the 19th and in the early 20th century, sabres were also used by some police forces. The sabre were later phased out in favour of the baton (or night stick) for humanitarian reasons.

A derivative of this weapon is used under this name in the Olympic sport of fencing.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
David McReynolds

... graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science. Between 1957 and 1960, he was on the editorial board of the Leftist magazine, Liberation. He was a staunch ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 30.8 ms