Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A Turkish sword or scimitar having a double-curved blade and an eared pommel, but lacking a handle guard.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A type of sword used in Muslim countries from the mid-16th to late 19th centuries.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. A long knife, or short saber, common among Mohammedan nations, usually having a double curve, sometimes nearly straight.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The sword of Mohammedan nations, peculiar in having no guard and no crosspiece, but usually a large and often decorative pommel.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a long Turkish knife with a curved blade having a single edge
Etymologies
Examples
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Marvand, the Surgeon-Major of an Algerian regiment, reports the case of a young Arab woman who had been severely injured in the right lumbar region by a weapon called a "yataghan," an instrument which has only one cutting edge.
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“His hero, Des Esseintes, comes from a long line of grim, muscular warriors with yataghan mustaches.” oriflamme.
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While I gather my thoughts for a coherent post about it, here are a few more words that sent me to the dictionary: yataghan.
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Claw Cape, bent in the form of a yataghan, tapered away nearly four miles to the southeast.
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He carried no arms, openly at least, but under his belt was hidden a revolver and in his pocket, one of those large knives, resembling both a cutlass and a yataghan, with which a
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At first the natives declared that their hens were mere old maids and all their cows unmarried, but our Tatar swore such a grand sonorous oath, and fingered the hilt of his yataghan with such persuasive touch, that the land soon flowed with milk, and mountains of eggs arose.
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Gord managed to Jump back, barely avoiding being skewered as the yataghan shot forth a foot farther than Gord thought possible.
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Blood ran from Cord's side where the yataghan had slashed it, but the wound was a minor one.
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Its curious shape told Gord It was some form of yataghan, with a needle point and wickedly sharp inner-edged cutting surface.
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Alarm flashed onto Andar's face, and he grabbed for his yataghan.
chained_bear commented on the word yataghan
"'I dare say he is a Romanist or a Mussulman: the curious sword is a yataghan...'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 321
February 14, 2008
yarb commented on the word yataghan
'"Well, well," thought Sasha, snatching out his sword and dashing forward to meet the warrior, who had drawn a crooked yataghan, "and like a fool I always took the trolley."'
- Victor Pelevin, Prince of Gosplan (tr. Andrew Bromfield).
January 11, 2008