Names
| Look up saif in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The name is thought to be derived from the Persian word shafsher which means “paw claw,” due to its long, curved design. The word has been translated through many languages to end at scimitar. Varieties of Persian shamshir have been created, including the Turkish kilij, Indian tulwar, Moroccan nimcha, Afghan pulwar, and Arabian saif.
The term saif in Arabic can refer to any Middle Eastern (or North African, South Asian) curved sword. The Arabic word is ultimately cognate with the ancient Greek xiphos, but it is not necessarily a direct loan from the Greek, it may have entered Arabic from another source, as both saif and xiphos go back to an old (Bronze Age) Wanderwort of the eastern Mediterranean, of unknown ultimate origin.
The English term scimitar is attested from the mid-16th century, derives from either the Middle French cimeterre (15c.) or from the Italian scimitarra. The ultimate source of these terms is unknown. Perhaps they are corruptions of the Persian shamshir, but the OED finds this explanation "unsatisfactory".
The following are regional terms for the scimitar:
- Shamshir (Iran)
- Kilij (Turkey and Egypt)
- Nimcha (Morocco)
- Pulwar (Afghanistan)
- Talwar (North India, Pakistan)
Read more about this topic: Scimitar
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