Editing Longsword (section)

== Names ==

=== English ===
The longsword has many names in the English language, which, aside from variant spellings, include terms such as "'''bastard sword'''" and "'''hand-and-a-half sword'''." Of these, "bastard sword" is the oldest, its use being contemporaneous with the weapon's heyday.

The French ''{{lang|fr|épée bâtarde}}'' and the English "bastard sword" originate in the 15th or 16th century, originally in the general sense of "irregular sword, sword of uncertain origin", but by the mid-16th century could refer to exceptionally large swords.<ref>{{cite book | quote=Qui n'étoit ni Françoise, ni Espagnole, ni proprement Lansquenette, mais plus grande que pas une de ces fortes épées. ([A sword] which was neither French, nor Spanish, nor properly ''[[Landsknecht]]'' [German], but larger than any of these great swords. | editor=Le Duchat, Jacob | title=Oeuvres | author-link=François Rabelais | author=Rabelais, François | year=1741 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCY_AAAAcAAJ&q=%22%C3%A9p%C3%A9e+b%C3%A2tarde%22&pg=PA129 | page=129 (footnote 5) | language=fr | access-date=4 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225308/http://books.google.com/books?id=UCY_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA129&dq=%22%C3%A9p%C3%A9e+b%C3%A2tarde%22&hl=en&ei=PTILTry5HczF8QPo15mJAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CF0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22%C3%A9p%C3%A9e%20b%C3%A2tarde%22&f=false | archive-date=7 January 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref>
The "Masters of Defence" competition organised by [[Henry VIII]] in July 1540 listed ''two handed sword'' and ''bastard sword'' as two separate items.<ref>{{cite book | last=Strutt | first=Joseph | title=The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England from the Earliest Period: Including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Pageants, Processions and Pompous Spectacles | date=1801 | publisher=Methuen & Company | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJwSAAAAYAAJ&q=%22long+sword%22++%22bastard+sword%22&pg=PA211 | page=211 | access-date=4 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225237/http://books.google.com/books?id=eJwSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA211&dq=%22long+sword%22++%22bastard+sword%22&hl=en&ei=T0ILTqC0MYKd-wbBruzOAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22long%20sword%22%20%20%22bastard%20sword%22&f=false | archive-date=7 January 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref>
It is uncertain whether the same term could still be used to other types of smaller swords, but antiquarian usage in the 19th century established the use of "bastard sword" as referring unambiguously to these large swords.<ref name=oakeshott>{{cite book | last=Oakeshott | first=Ewart | title=European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution | date=1980 | publisher=Boydell & Brewer, Incorporated | isbn=9780851157894 | pages=129–135}}</ref>

The term "hand-and-a-half sword" is relatively modern (from the late 19th century);<ref>As attested in {{cite book | title=Exhibition of the Royal House of Tudor | date=1890 | publisher=New Gallery | url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitionroyal00englgoog | quote=+hand-and-a-half . | location=London | access-date=23 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521060431/http://www.archive.org/details/exhibitionroyal00englgoog | archive-date=21 May 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref>
this name was given because the balance of the sword made it usable in one hand, as well as two. During the first half of the 20th century, the term "bastard sword" was also used regularly to refer to this type of sword, while "long sword" (or "long-sword"), if used at all, referred to the [[rapier]] (in the context of Renaissance or Early Modern fencing).<ref>See, for example,  {{cite book | title=A General Guide to the Wallace Collection | date=1933 | publisher=H.M. Stationery Office | page=149 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpYKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22long+sword%22++%22bastard+sword%22 | access-date=4 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225351/http://books.google.com/books?id=CpYKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22long+sword%22++%22bastard+sword%22&dq=%22long+sword%22++%22bastard+sword%22&hl=en&ei=F0ILTouUIoOf-wb59KDPAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA | archive-date=7 January 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Another name originating from the 19th century is "broadsword," which grew out of comparisons of the blade to more slender swords. This name is common in non-expert literature, where it often refers generically to any medieval sword. However, it more properly—and historically—refers to the [[basket-hilted sword]]s of the 18th century.<ref name="Clements2022">{{cite web |url=http://www.thearma.org/essays/broadsword.htm |title=Broadsword or Broad Sword? Settling the Question of What's in a Name |first=John |last=Clements |work=The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts |date=2022 |access-date=11 May 2024}}</ref><ref name=BladesPro>{{cite web | title=Longsword vs Broadsword | website=BladesPro UK | date=2019-07-10 | url=https://www.bladespro.co.uk/blogs/news/longsword-vs-broadsword | access-date=2024-11-18}}</ref>

Contemporary use of "long-sword" or "longsword" only resurfaced in the 2000s in the context of [[historical martial arts reconstruction|reconstruction]] of the [[German school of fencing]], translating the German ''{{lang|de|langes schwert}}''.<ref>A nonce attestation of "long-sword" in the sense of "heavy two-handed sword" is found in {{cite book | last=Kezer | first=Claude D. | title=Principles of Stage Combat | date=1983 | publisher=I. E. Clark Publications | isbn=9780886801564 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Otf5dDCbGCwC&q=long-sword&pg=PA41 | access-date=4 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225302/http://books.google.com/books?id=Otf5dDCbGCwC&pg=PA41&dq=long-sword&hl=en&ei=4UQLTuSwIcTz-gbSqpjPAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=long-sword&f=false | archive-date=7 January 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Thimm | first=Carl A. | title=A Complete Bibliography of Fencing and Duelling | date=31 May 1999 | publisher=Pelican Publishing | isbn=9781455602773 }} uses "long sword (''Schwerdt'') on [https://books.google.com/books?id=VntzdRfNnQ4C&q=long+sword&pg=PA220 p. 220] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107225240/http://books.google.com/books?id=VntzdRfNnQ4C&pg=PA220&dq=%22German+longsword%22&hl=en&ei=AEkLToKVI4Kj-gaYn5nPAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=long%20sword&f=false |date=7 January 2014 }} as direct translation from a German text of 1516, and  "long sword or long rapier" in reference to [[George Silver]] (1599) on [https://books.google.com/books?id=VntzdRfNnQ4C&q=long+sword&pg=PA220 p. 269] .</ref><ref>Systematic use of the term only from 2001 beginning with {{cite book | last=Tobler | first=Christian Henry |author2=Ringeck, Sigmund |author3=Liechtenauer, Johann  | title=Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship | date=2001 | publisher=Chivalry Bookshelf | isbn=9781891448072}}</ref> Prior to this the term "long sword" merely referred to any sword with a long blade; 'long' being simply an adjective rather than a classification.

=== Other languages ===
Historical (15th to 16th century) terms for this type of sword included [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''{{lang|pt|espada-de-armas}}'', ''{{lang|pt|estoque}}'' or ''{{lang|pt|espada de duas mãos}}'' for the version with longer handle used exclusively with both hands; [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''{{lang|es|espadón}}'', ''{{lang|es|montante}}'', or ''{{lang|es|mandoble}}'', [[Italian language|Italian]] ''{{lang|it|spada longa (lunga)}}'' or ''{{lang|it|spada due mani (Bolognese)}}'', and [[Middle French]] ''{{lang|fr|passot}}''. The [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]] ''{{lang|gd|claidheamh mòr}}'' means "great sword"; anglicised as ''[[claymore]],'' it came to refer to a large Scottish type of longsword with a V–shaped crossguard.
Historical terminology overlaps with that applied to the [[Zweihänder]] sword in the 16th century: French ''{{lang|fr|espadon}}'', Spanish ''{{lang|es|espadón}}'', or Portuguese ''{{lang|pt|montante}}'' may also be used more narrowly to refer to these large swords. The French ''{{lang|fr|épée de passot}}'' may also refer to a medieval single-handed sword optimized for thrusting.

The [[Early Modern German|German]] ''{{lang|de|langes schwert}}'' ("long sword") in 15th and 16th-century [[Fechtbuch|manuals]] does not denote a type of weapon, but the technique of fencing with both hands at the hilt, contrasting with ''{{lang|de|kurzes schwert}}'' ("short sword") used of fencing with the same weapon, but with one hand gripping the blade (also known as a [[half-sword]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Paurñfeyndt |first=Andre |date=1516 |title=Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey |trans-title=Foundation of the Chivalric Art of Swordplay |language=de |location=Vienna |publisher=Hieronymus Vietor |page=3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://longsword.com/what-is-a-longsword/ | title=What is a Longsword | publisher=Longsword.com | access-date=5 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107155939/http://longsword.com/what-is-a-longsword/ | archive-date=7 January 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref>