Broadsword

The term broadsword is used to refer to different types of swords, across many cultures and time periods.


 * During the 17th through 19th centuries, the term referred to contemporary Europe an straight double-edged basket-hilted swords, like the Italian schiavona and the Scots claymore. Surviving examples of such swords are around 105 cm long (90 cm of which is blade) with a base blade width of 3.5 cm and a mass of about one kilogram.


 * Later in this period, the term was applied to any broad-bladed military sword, including the sabre and the backsword, as opposed to the comparatively slimmer-bladed rapier, smallsword and épée; in the late 19th century, museum curators began to use the term retrospectively to refer to the medieval arming sword, which remains the popular usage today.


 * The Chinese Dao is sometimes translated as broadsword.