Meanings
plural sabres · alternative US saber
- CanadaUKA light sword with a curved blade, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point.
Jewan Sadit, who ſtood before the prince, obſerving his youthful temerity, threw himſelf between him and danger, and with a nervous arm, wielding a ſharp ſabre, of the hard tempered ſteel of Damiſk, ruſhing upon the tyger, he ſtruck him acroſs the forehead.
1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 6 - CanadaUKfencingA modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre.
The country’s fencing federation has officially recognised lightsaber duelling as a competitive sport, granting the weapon from George Lucas’s space saga the same status as the foil, epee and sabre, the traditional blades used at the Olympics.
2019 February 19, “Lightsaber duelling registered as official sport in France”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna fencing sword with a v-shaped blade and a slightly curved handle
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Hungarianszablya
- Polishszabla
- GermanSäbel
- Frenchsabre
- Englishsabre
Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Polish szabla, from Hungarian szablya. Cognate with Danish sabel, Russian са́бля (sáblja), Serbo-Croatian сабља, Sicilian sciàbbula.
More words from French, German, Polish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ξιφομάχαιρα
- ξιφομάχαιρα (xiphomákhaira)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Basque sable, sabre
- sablelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabrelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Bulgarian са́бя, са́бя
- са́бя (sábja)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- са́бя (sábja)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Catalan sabre, sabre
- sabrelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabremodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Chinese Mandarin 佩劍 /佩剑, 馬刀 /马刀
- 佩劍 /佩剑 (pèijiàn)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 馬刀 /马刀 (mǎdāo)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 戰刀 /战刀 (zhàndāo)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 軍刀 /军刀 (jūndāo)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 佩劍 /佩剑 (pèijiàn)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Czech šavle, šavle
- šavlelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- šavlemodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Danish sabel
- sabellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Dutch sabel, sabel
- sabellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabelmodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Esperanto sabro, sabro
- sabrolight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabromodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Estonian saabel
- saabellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Finnish säilä, sapeli
- säilälight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sapelilight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- säilämodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
French sabre
- sabrelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
German Säbel, Säbel
- Säbellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- Säbelmodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Greek σπαθί, μάχαιρα
- σπαθί (spathí)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- μάχαιρα (máchaira)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Hindi सेबर, सेबर
- सेबर (sebar)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- सेबर (sebar)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Hungarian szablya
- szablyalight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Icelandic sveðja
- sveðjalight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Italian sciabola, sciabola
- sciabolalight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sciabolamodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Japanese サーベル, セイバー
- サーベル (sāberu)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- セイバー (seibā)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- サーブル (sāburu)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Korean 군도, 사브르
- 군도 (gundo)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 사브르 (sabeureu)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- 사브르 (sabeureu)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Latin xiphomachaera
- xiphomachaeralight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Latvian zobens
- zobenslight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Lithuanian kardas, palašas
- kardaslight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- palašaslight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- kardasmodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Māori hoari piko
- hoari pikolight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Norwegian Bokmål sabel, sabel
- sabellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabelmodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Polish szabla, szabla
- szablalight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- szablamodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Portuguese sabre, sabre
- sabrelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sabremodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Romanian sabie
- sabielight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Russian са́бля, ша́шка
- са́бля (sáblja)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- ша́шка (šáška)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- са́бля (sáblja)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Scottish Gaelic claidheamh crom, claidheamh crom
- claidheamh cromlight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- claidheamh crommodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Slovak šabľa
- šabľalight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Spanish sable, sable
- sablelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- sablemodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Swedish sabel
- sabellight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Tagalog sable
- sablelight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
Turkish kılıç, kılıç
- kılıçlight sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- kılıçmodern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Ukrainian ша́бля, ша́шка
- ша́бля (šáblja)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- ша́шка (šáška)light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point
- ша́бля (šáblja)modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sabre
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
sabre. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sabre
“sabre.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sabre. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sabre,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sabre.
Source: sabre on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.