sabre

See also: sabré and Sâbre

English

A British 1796 pattern light cavalry sabre

Alternative forms

• saber (chiefly US)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪ.bɚ/
• Rhymes: -eɪbə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: sa‧bre

Noun

sabre (plural sabres) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)

1. A light sword with a curved blade, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point.
   • 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:

     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.

2. (fencing) A modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre.
   • 2019 February 19, “Lightsaber duelling registered as official sport in France”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 8 November 2020:

     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.

Usage notes

• This spelling has become relatively common in the United States due to the Buffalo Sabres hockey team as well as the occasional tendency to use British spellings for archaic nouns (compare theater versus theatre).

Derived terms

• false sabre-toothed cat
• lightsaber, lightsabre
• rattle a sabre
• rattle one's sabre
• rattle the sabre
• sabrage
• sabrebill
• sabre carp
• sabrecat
• sabrefish
• sabre leg
• sabreless
• sabrelike
• sabre-rattle
• sabre rattle
• sabre rattling
• sabre-rattling
• sabre saw
• sabre-tooth
• sabre-toothed
• sabre-toothed cat
• sabre-toothed tiger
• sabrewing

Translations

light sword, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point

• Altai:

  Northern Altai: кылыч (kïlïč)

  Southern Altai: кылыч (kïlïč), кылыш (kïlïš)

• Azerbaijani: qılınc (az)
• Bashkir: ҡылыс (qılıs)
• Basque: sable (eu), sabre
• Bats: თურ (tur)
• Belarusian: ша́бля f (šáblja), ша́шка f (šáška)
• Bulgarian: са́бя (bg) f (sábja)
• Catalan: sabre (ca) m
• Chechen: тур (tur)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 佩劍 / 佩剑 (zh) (pèijiàn), 馬刀 / 马刀 (zh) (mǎdāo), 戰刀 / 战刀 (zh) (zhàndāo), 軍刀 / 军刀 (zh) (jūndāo)

• Comorian:

  Ngazidja Comorian: upanga class 11/10, panga class 9/10

• Czech: šavle (cs) f
• Danish: sabel c
• Dutch: sabel (nl) m
• Esperanto: sabro
• Estonian: saabel (et)
• Finnish: säilä (fi), sapeli (fi)
• French: sabre (fr) m
• Galician: sabre (gl) m
• Georgian: ხმალი (ka) (xmali), მახვილი (maxvili)
• German: Säbel (de) m
• Greek: σπαθί (el) n (spathí), μάχαιρα (el) f (máchaira)

  Ancient Greek: ξιφομάχαιρα f (xiphomákhaira)

• Hindi: सेबर m (sebar)
• Hungarian: szablya (hu)
• Icelandic: sveðja f
• Italian: sciabola (it) f
• Japanese: サーベル (ja) (sāberu), セイバー (seibā)
• Kalmyk: селм (selm), чашк (çaşk), мишл (mişl)
• Kashubian: szabla f
• Kazakh: қылыш (qılıš)
• Korean: 군도(軍刀) (ko) (gundo), 사브르 (sabeureu)
• Kyrgyz: кылыч (kılıc)
• Latin: xiphomachaera f
• Latvian: zobens m
• Lithuanian: kardas (lt) m (curved), palašas m (straight)
• Macedonian: сабја f (sabja)
• Manx: cliwe markee m
• Māori: hoari piko
• Marathi: सेबर f (sebar)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: сэлэм (mn) (selem)

• Navajo: diltłish
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sabel m

• Occitan: sabre (oc) m
• Old East Slavic: саблꙗ f (sablja)
• Plautdietsch: Säbel m
• Polish: szabla (pl) f
• Portuguese: sabre (pt) m
• Romanian: sabie (ro) f
• Russian: са́бля (ru) f (sáblja), ша́шка (ru) f (šáška)
• Scottish Gaelic: claidheamh crom m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са̏бља f

  Latin: sȁblja (sh) f

• Slovak: šabľa f
• Slovene: sablja (sl) f
• Spanish: sable (es) m
• Swedish: sabel (sv) c
• Tagalog: sable
• Tatar: кылыч (tt) (qılıç)
• Turkish: kılıç (tr)
• Ukrainian: ша́бля (uk) f (šáblja), ша́шка f (šáška)
• Uzbek: qilich (uz)

modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre

• Belarusian: ша́бля f (šáblja)
• Bulgarian: са́бя (bg) f (sábja)
• Catalan: sabre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 佩劍 / 佩剑 (zh) (pèijiàn)

• Czech: šavle (cs) f
• Dutch: sabel (nl) m
• Esperanto: sabro
• Finnish: säilä (fi)
• Galician: sabre (gl)
• German: Säbel (de) m
• Hindi: सेबर m (sebar)
• Italian: sciabola (it) f
• Japanese: サーブル (ja) (sāburu)
• Korean: 사브르 (sabeureu)
• Lithuanian: kardas (lt) m (curved)
• Macedonian: сабја f (sabja)
• Marathi: सेबर f (sebar)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sabel m

• Polish: szabla (pl) f
• Portuguese: sabre (pt) m
• Russian: са́бля (ru) f (sáblja)
• Scottish Gaelic: claidheamh crom m
• Spanish: sable (es) m
• Turkish: kılıç (tr)
• Ukrainian: ша́бля (uk) f (šáblja)

Verb

sabre (third-person singular simple present sabres, present participle sabring, simple past and past participle sabred) (British spelling, Canadian spelling)

1. (transitive) To strike or kill with a sabre.
   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in Past and Present:

     There lie poor sallow workworn weavers, and complain no more now; women themselves are slashed and sabred, howling terror fills the air; […]

2. (transitive) To open (a bottle) via sabrage.

See also

• en coup de sabre
• sabrer
• sabreur

Anagrams

• saber, bares, rabes, besra, Saber, Bears, baser, Brase, barse, bears, BSAer, Breas, Bares, braes

Asturian

Noun

sabre m (plural sabres)

1. alternative form of sable

Basque

Alternative forms

• sable

Noun

sabre

1. sabre, saber

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˈsa.βɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈsa.bɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈsa.bɾe]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈsa.βɾe]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

sabre m (plural sabres)

1. sabre
2. the silver scabbardfish (Lepidopus caudatus)

   Synonyms: cinturó, serp de mar

Derived terms

• sabre cuafí
• sabre de sant Simó
• sabrista

Further reading

• “sabre”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sabre”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “sabre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “sabre”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

From German Säbel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sabʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

Noun

sabre m (plural sabres)

1. a single-edged sword
2. the force, arms
3. cutlassfish

Derived terms

• avaleur de sabre
• sabre au clair
• sabre laser
• tigre à dents de sabre

Descendants

• → English: sabre

Further reading

• “sabre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• baser, brase, brasé

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bre/
• Rhymes: -abre
• Hyphenation: sà‧bre

Noun

sabre m or f by sense (invariable)

1. alternative form of sabra

Adjective

sabre (invariable)

1. alternative form of sabra

Anagrams

• serba

Leonese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

sabre m (plural sabres)

1. sand

References

• “sabre”, in Diccionario Castellano-Leonés / Leonés-Castellano [Spanish-Leonese / Leonese-Spanish Dictionary] (in Spanish), La Asociación L'Alderique, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Hungarian szablya.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɾi/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɾɨ/ [ˈsa.βɾɨ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɾɨ/ [ˈsa.βɾɨ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɾɨ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -abɾi, (Portugal) -abɾɨ
• Hyphenation: sa‧bre

Noun

sabre m (plural sabres)

1. sabre (military weapon)
2. sabre (fencing weapon)

Related terms

• espada, esgrima, florete

Further reading

• “sabre”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sabre” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “sabre”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “sabre”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026