martel de fer

noun

A weapon resembling a hammer, often having one side of the head pointed, used by horsemen in the Middle Ages to break armour.

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Meanings

nounmartel de fer (plural martels de fer)

plural martels de fer

  1. A weapon resembling a hammer, often having one side of the head pointed, used by horsemen in the Middle Ages to break armour.

    In addition to the sword and spear , the warrior occasionally wielded the martel-de-fer , a weapon combining a hammer and pick , and which did great execution among the armed knights , in breaking or dragging off the rings of the hauberk

    1846, Frederick William Fairholt, Costume in England: History

Origin

Old French, hammer of iron.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

martel de fer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martel%20de%20fer

MLA

“martel de fer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martel%20de%20fer. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “martel de fer,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/martel%20de%20fer.

Source: martel de fer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.