backsword en · NOUN
Etymology
From back + sword, i.e. “sword with a back”. The same naming theme appears in other Germanic languages, such as Swedish enback (“seax, backsword”, literally “single-back”).
Meanings
-
A sword with one sharp edge, especially full length such, where shorter such are called broadsword and thereof.
It [the dáo of the Nágá tribe, south-east of Assam] is a thick, heavy backsword, eighteen inches long, with a bevel where the point should be, worn at the waist in a half-scabbard of wood, and used for digging as well as killing.
1884, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Sword: What is It?”, in The Book of the Sword, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, page 140:
- (UK, dated) A stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements.
-
(UK, dated) The game in which the stick is used.
One afternoon, as the missionary and I were sitting outside our tents, my attention was attracted towards a group of sepahis engaged under a banyantree, playing the game of backsword […]
1842, The Asiatic Journal […] :
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| backswords | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
Translations (14)
kk наркескен (sword with one sharp edge) · de Pallasch (sword with one sharp edge) · cmn 單刃刀 /单刃刀 (sword with one sharp edge) · sv pallasch (sword with one sharp edge) · pl pałasz (sword with one sharp edge) · ja バックソード (sword with one sharp edge) · sv enbak (sword with one sharp edge) · ru пала́ш (sword with one sharp edge) · hu pallos (sword with one sharp edge) · da pallask (sword with one sharp edge) · gv cliwe ghrommey (sword with one sharp edge) · de Korbschwert (sword with one sharp edge) · kk алдаспан (sword with one sharp edge) · fr palache (sword with one sharp edge)