Glossary of Sword Terms

  • Back Edge: Unsharpened edge on a single-edged sword
  • Basket Hilt: Sword hilt with basket-shaped guard to cover and protect the hand (see "Knuckleguard")
  • Bell guard: The bell-shaped portion of the weapon between the blade and the handle which protects a fencer's hand
  • Burr: Snag or sharp nick in a sword blade which needs to be filed and sanded before blade can be safely swallowed
  • Camellia: Non-toxic, non-allergenic edible Japanese oil used for oiling sword blades after use
  • Crossguard: Part of the hilt of a sword which runs perpendicular to the blade, which the tang of the sword passes through into the hilt (see "Quillion" and "Tang")
  • False Edge: A few inches which was sharpened on the usually unsharpened Back Edge at the tip of some longer single-edged swords
  • Foible: The weaker and more flexible portion of a fencing blade nearest the tip
  • Forte: The stronger and more rigid portion of a fencing blade nearest the bell guard
  • Frog: Looped fastener for attaching a scabbard to the belt
  • Grip: Covering on a sword handle made of leather or wire that usually, but not always, covers the hilt
  • Hilt: Handle of a sword including quillion crossguard, grip and pommel
  • Knuckleguard: Portion of the hilt that protected the knuckles, sometimes as developed as a basket hilt
  • Kurobara: Non-toxic, non-allergenic edible Japanese oil used for oiling sword blades after use
  • Pommel: The disc or metal knob on the end of a sword hilt which fastens to the tongue of the blade. It has two purposes: holding all of the parts of the foil in place, and serving as a counterweight to the blade, thus making the foil a balanced weapon
  • Quillion: Term for each of the projecting sections of the crossguard on a sword (see also "Crossguard")
  • Ricasso: Unsharpened area of a sword blade between the qullion crossguard and the sharpened part of the blade. Sometimes the flat or concave plate containing a slot through which the blade passes is also called a Ricasso.
  • Scabbard: Sheath for sword, knife, dagger or bayonet
  • Shoulder: Unsharpened area of a sword blade up to six inches between the qullion and the sharpened part of the blade
  • Swept Hilt: Ornate knuckleguard on a sword hilt that sweeps over the hand but which does not cover or protect the hand quite as fully as a Basket Hilt
  • Tang: Part of the sword blade that protrudes into the hilt that the grip is secured to
  • Tip: Point of the sword blade used for thrusting and stabbing