Scimitar

//ˈsɪmɪtəɹ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A sword of Persian origin that features a curved blade.

    "The Prince of Morocco: […]By this Symitare, That ſlew the Sophie, and a Perſian Prince That won three fields of Sultan Solyman, I would ore-ſtare the ſterneſt eies that looke, Out-braue the heart moſt daring on the earth: Plucke the yong ſucking Cubs from the ſhe Beare, Yea, mocke the Lion when he rors for pray To win the Ladie. […]"

  2. 2
    a curved oriental saber; the edge is on the convex side of the blade wordnet
  3. 3
    A long-handled billhook.
Verb
  1. 1
    To strike or slice with, or as if with, a scimitar. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
foilsword

Example

More examples

"Many species of animals - the woolly mammoth, mastodon, scimitar cat, Arctic camel, brown bear, moose, muskox, and horse — to name a few — moved from one continent to the other across the Bering land bridge."

Etymology

First attested in 1548. From Middle French cimeterre (15c.) or directly from Italian scimitarra, possibly from an unknown Ottoman Turkish word, ultimately from Persian شمشیر (šamšir, “sword”). Doublet of shamshir.

Related phrases

scimitar babblerscimitar catscimitar legscimitar podscimitar shellscimitar syndromescimitar-horned oryxscimitar-toothedscimitar-toothed tigerscimitar-winged piha

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.