scimitar
UK /ˈsɪmɪtə/ · US /ˈsɪmɪtəɹ/ noun, verb
Forms scimitars scimitaring scimitared simitar cimeter cimiter cymeter scimetar scimiter semitar
- noun A sword of Persian origin that features a curved blade.
- noun A long-handled billhook.
- verb (transitive) To strike or slice with, or as if with, a scimitar.
Etymology
First attested in 1548. From Middle French cimeterre (15c.) or directly from Italian scimitarra, possibly from an unknown Ottoman Turkish word, ultimately from Classical Persian شمشیر (šamšēr, “sword”). Doublet of shamshir.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A saber with a much curved blade having the edge on the convex side, --in use among Mohammedans, esp., the Arabs and persians.
- noun A long-handled billhook. See Billhook. Scimiter pods (Bot.), the immense curved woody pods of a leguminous woody climbing plant (Entada scandens) growing in tropical India and America. They contain hard round flattish seeds two inches in diameter, which are made into boxes.
Etymology [F. cimeterre, cf. It. scimitarra, Sp. cimitarra; fr. Biscayan cimetarry with a sharp edge; or corrupted from Per. shimshir.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “scimitar”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details