The Etymology of SABRE

[@wolfzes6479]

“Dude, wake up! New History & Sabre video just dropped!”

[@greencreekranch]

Never been here, but less than three seconds in and I'm convinced I trust this dudes expertise on sabers. And most other things probably.

[@russmitchellmovement]

We also have the grammatical angle. Szablya as the thing which "szab"-s, that is, cuts. This then directly connecting to tesak/tasak -> dussack in German, all meaning "chopper, lopper." (And in modern day Hungarian, "Szabo'," a cutter (of cloth, to make garments, aka, a tailor). Etymologically the same word. So its literal translation is in use in Central Europe long before the Bathory era.

[@historyandsabre]

Yep, Stachowski and many others mention the "szab-" connection aswell and it's pretty self-evident for Hungarian speakers I guess. I haven't come across the tesak angle in this context, I thought that came from Czech "fang". Is there a direct connection?

[@russmitchellmovement]

@@historyandsabre Have never heard of "fang" in connection to it, only some variation on English "cutter." (just as "Sabreing" is often synonymous with cutting in early-modern sources)

[@richardthompson6079]

Concise, well presented, and interesting. Thank you!

[@historyandsabre]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cptsmkwgn]

Glad to see you back!

[@dlatrexswords]

Peter, this is killer work. All of your content is awesome, but this is a wonderful summary both in how concise and how much information you are able to pack in while showing the limitations we have with current research. My pet area of study is proto sabres/ early period nomad sabres, and by chance I am also running through and collection 16th-17th century dictionaries and collecting various terms for swords as the translate between the languages of the time. The earliest entries I have for 'saber' in each case do seem to refer to curved blades still; for example From 1554 Dittionario ital. franc. tedesco latino e: By Levinus Hulsius Italian: Storta, spada torta aguifa di falce French:Baraquemar, ou baraquemart, m Latin: Harpe, ensis falcatus German: Ein Krumbchwert/Sabel Keep up the awesome work!

[@historyandsabre]

Hey there, thanks for the comment and for sharing - very interesting stuff you added here!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

More please 😊 Words & weapons ❤

[@geforcegtx10606gb]

whoah, new upload. glad to see another video from you, dude!

[@historyandsabre]

Thanks, hope you liked it!

[@jasonjames9836]

Good to see you have some time to make a cool video. Nice presentation. I like the linguistic tracery that you do here. Cheers!

[@historyandsabre]

Hey, thanks very much!

[@MegaKlak]

Very nice video! Thank you for sharing it. Something potentially of interest: In Romania, "sabie" is applied regardless of curvature, as long as only one side of the blade has an edge.

[@pi8chyt]

New vid! Great 👍 Super interesting as well ✅

[@xXjOmAmMaXx]

Excellent and succinct video, thank you!

[@historyandsabre]

My pleasure!

[@thescholar-general5975]

Long awaited return of the mustache!

[@thallescastellani317]

Could you do some video(s) on the possible origins of the curved swords as a whole in Europe and Asia? It's existance and use seems very "difusionistic" (in anthropological therms), rather than "structuralistic". It really does seems that a single cultural group (and I bet central asia) created it and spread it's use to other cultures.

[@historyandsabre]

Hi there, I'd need to do more research to cover this well enough but I have thought about it!

[@woff1959]

Very good! Do you have any evidence for 'sabres from the Balkans' in the 7th and 8th Centuries? The Avar proto-sabres are there in the Great Hungarian plaine from 670 onwards.

[@SwordScience]

So, it’s settled, a sabre is curved…or not.

[@SetäPerma]

What do you have against Finland?

[@morriganmhor5078]

What about so often "pistol grip", not so typical for straight-bladed swords?

[@historyandsabre]

What do you mean exactly?

[@MasonMorgen]

I wonder if there's an Indo-European form or it's related to *sek- and *sahs and separate? Proto-Germanic *sabjiō? 'I separate'? I've heard of Huns bringing the saber.

[@damian_madmansnest]

I thought it came from the tigers who had teeth of the same shape 🤣🤣🤣

[@petrapetrakoliou8979]

Interesting, I thought the word is a Hungarian invention, as it is meaningfull in that language: "the thing that cuts".

[@Rig0p]

You mentionned Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Nobody use it in France, not the general public and not the specialists, it's a joke. the more popular dictionnary are Larousse et Le Robert that are updated each year. It was already a joke at the fundation of l'Académie Française. It is consitantly outdated they produced only 9 edition in 350 years. The Académie Française is composed of old french personality, they are almost never qualified in linguistic.

[@historyandsabre]

Hey, thanks a lot for the comment! I knew the Academie is very conservative and not regarded highly in linguistics outside of France but I didn't know it had the same reputation in the country. Learned something new today!