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English
Term |
Etymology |
Hilt |
Proto-Germanic (included old English): helt (hjalt, helza) =
handle of sword, oar, ... |
Blade |
Old English blæd = a leaf. In (modern) German:
Blatt = leaf. Includes leaf-like parts of spades,
oars, spears, ...
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Pommel |
From old French early (12th century). Pomel = rounded knob.
Goes back to Latin: pomum = apple, connecting to round things.
In Middle-English (ca.1100 - ca.1500) poetry it sometimes means a woman's
breast. |
Tang |
From Old Norse (Viking language) tangi = spit of land, pointed
metal tool, perhaps related to tunga = tongue |
Grip |
Old English gripe = grasp, clutch; grippan = to grip, seize,
obtain.
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Quillons
(other word for crossguard) |
A quillon (singular) is either half of the extended crossguard of a sword or
dagger.
The term is from Middle French in the late 16th century and is a derivative of
quille = bowling pin, ultimately from Old High German kegil = club, stake |
Fuller |
Not so clear. full, ful, fullr, fol, fulls in old languages
(modern German: voll, means simply full.
To full = tread or beat cloth to cleanse or thicken it comes from Old French
(late 14th century), going back to Latin fullare = to clean cloth (by treading
on it). That's why it is is also the root to foul and foiling.
A fuller later also meant a half-round hammer used for grooving and spreading
iron or a tool or part of a die for reducing the sectional area of a piece of
work. |
Edge |
From Old English ecg = corner, edge, point; but it could also
just mean "sword". Ecgplega = edge play or ecghete = edge hate, a
poetic term for "battle". Modern German Ecke = corner. |
Point |
From Latin pungere = prick, pierce became point in Old French
and passed to English around ca.1300. "Puncta" in Medieval Latin,
(ca.700 - ca.1500) meant "sharp tip". In modern German
Punkt = point, dot, full stop. |
Forte |
The lower third of the blade of a sword, nearest the hilt. It
is the strongest part of a blade and is the part used when parrying. |
Foible, Debole
Weak part |
The upper third of the blade, ending in the point. Despite its
name, it is the business end of the sword most used to attack. |
Terso, Terzo
Middle Section or |
The middle part of the blade, between the forte and the
foible |
Ricasso |
Unsharpened length of blade between the cross guard and the
edge. It allows the wielder to place their index finger or a whole hand above
the crossguard. The "German "Fehlschärfe" translates literally to
"missing sharpness". |
Scabbard |
From Anglo-French (the French written in England from the
Norman Conquest (1066) through the Middle Ages; the administrative and legal
language of England) escauberc = sheath, vagina. (13 c.). Going back to
Frankish (West Germanic language of the Franks, inhabitants of northern Gaul 5
c.-6 c.) skar = blade" + berg = protect. In modern German:
verbergen = to conceal, disguise, secrete. |
Locket |
From Old French. loquet = latch. Meaning "ornamental case
with hinged cover" (containing a lock of hair, miniature portrait, etc.)
first recorded 1670s. |
Chape |
From Latin cappa = cap, hood, cloak. In modern German
Kappe = cap. Related to (French) chaperon =
protector (of virgins) |
German
Term |
Etymologie |
Gefäß |
A straight translation would be "vessel" but that
goes in the wrong direction. It is related to "fassen" = to hold, to
encase. A "Faß" (engl. vat) holds
something.
Die Stelle and der man das Schwert fasst oder gefasst
hat. |
Klinge |
Middle High German. Klingen = to ring, clink, jingle; from the
sound of fighting.
Klingen ?= hell tönen, erschallen; nach dem hellen
Klang des auf Helm und Panzer treffenden Schwertes benannt |
Knauf |
Old German knouf = Knoten (knot).
Related to German Knopf = button |
Angel |
??? The regular meaning is "fishing rod", Sometimes
also called Erl |
Heft |
Proto-Germanic heften, heftian, hæftan = stapling,
tacking, stiching.
Etwas (mit Reißzwecken, Nägeln, Nadeln)
befestigen, anbringen, (mit Fäden, Drahtklammern)
zusammenfügen. |
Hilze |
Also Gehilze,
Griffhilze; from "Holz" = wood. In particular simple wooden grip
"stuck" on the tang; as in simple tools. |
Hohlkehle |
Combination of Proto-Germanic (8th c.) hol = hollow, concave,
and Old-German (8th c.) kela = channel, flute, groove, throat. |
Schneide |
Proto-Germanic (8th/9th c.) snidan; sniden, snida = to cut with
a sharp implement. |
Ort |
The regular meaning is "place", even "town =
Ortschaft".
From Old German ort = point, tip. In modern German
orten = to locate, to pin down. |
Scheide |
Proto-Germanic skeðia, schede, scede, sceide, nchede =
sheath. After the 16th century it also means vagina, taking over the Latin meaning of
"vagina" = sheath. |
Scheidemundblech |
Combination of "Scheide"
(see above) and
Proto-Germanic (8th c.), munt, amund, mont, mond = mouth plus old German bleh =
thin metal sheet; related to modern "bleich" = pale, and originally meaning
"gleaming, bright, glittering", since mostly gold was hammered into
thin sheets. |
Ortband |
Combination of Ort (see above) and
old German bant = tie, tape or band. Relates to binding. |
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