*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of sabre

Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Polish szabla, from Hungarian szablya. Cognate with Danish sabel, Russian са́бля (sáblja), Serbo-Croatian сабља, Sicilian sciàbbula.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A light sword with a curved blade, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point. · A modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre.

verb

To strike or kill with a sabre. · To open (a bottle) via sabrage.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Polish szabla, from Hungarian szablya. Cognate with Danish sabel, Russian са́бля (sáblja), Serbo-Croatian сабља, Sicilian sciàbbula.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "sabre"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from French sabre"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Säbel"
      },
      "expansion": "German Säbel"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pl",
        "3": "szabla"
      },
      "expansion": "Polish szabla"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hu",
        "3": "szablya"
      },
      "expansion": "Hungarian szablya"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "sabel"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish sabel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "са́бля"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian са́бля (sáblja)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sh",
        "2": "сабља",
        "sc": "Cyrl"
      },
      "expansion": "Serbo-Croatian сабља"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "scn",
        "2": "sciàbbula"
      },
      "expansion": "Sicilian sciàbbula"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "sabre",
      "sabre#French"
    ],
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      "Säbel",
      "Säbel#German"
    ],
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      "szabla",
      "szabla#Polish"
    ],
    [
      "szablya",
      "szablya#Hungarian"
    ],
    [
      "sabel",
      "sabel#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "са́бля",
      "сабля#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "сабља",
      "сабља#Serbo-Croatian"
    ],
    [
      "sciàbbula",
      "sciàbbula#Sicilian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A light sword with a curved blade, sharp along the front edge, part of the back edge, and at the point.",
        "A modern fencing sword modeled after the sabre."
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 166851
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To strike or kill with a sabre.",
        "To open (a bottle) via sabrage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "UK",
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "545e9e694fae79a1cd937560473c579eea4120a91699153e9ffa7e1f4757c8ae",
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for sabre →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c2FicmU