Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A Turkish sword or scimitar having a double-curved blade and an eared pommel, but lacking a handle guard.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The sword of Mohammedan nations, peculiar in having no guard and no crosspiece, but usually a large and often decorative pommel.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A long knife, or short saber, common among Mohammedan nations, usually having a double curve, sometimes nearly straight.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A type of
sword used in Muslim countries from the mid-16th to late 19th centuries.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a long Turkish knife with a curved blade having a single edge
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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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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.
Comments
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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
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