Single-edged swords

A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the tachi, it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge facing upward. Since the Muromachi period, many old tachi were cut from the root and shortened, and the blade at the root was crushed and converted into a katana. The specific term for katana in Japan is and the term katana (刀) often refers to single-edged swords from around the world.

thumb|right|Two styles of scimitars: an Egyptian shamshir (left) and an Ottoman [[kilij (right)]]

The khopesh ('; also vocalized khepesh') is an Egyptian sickle-shaped sword that developed from battle axes. The sword style originated in Western Asia during the Bronze Age and was introduced in the Second Intermediate Period. The khopesh'' became more common in the New Kingdom, and is often depicted with kings in statues and murals.

A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a former common naval weapon during the Age of Sail.

The shashka or shasqua (Abkhaz: Аҳәа, Асахәа; , – long-knife; Chechen: Гlорда, Гlурда/Терс-маймал; Dargin: ШушкIа; Georgian: ჭოლაური, ch'olauri; Ingush: Гурде/Г1ама; Lezgin: Шуьш; Ossetian: ахсан/ахсæн, Шашкæ; ) is a kind of Caucasian sabre: a single-edged, single-handed, and guardless sabre. The comparatively gentle curve of a shashka blade puts the weapon midway between a radically curved sabre and a straight sword, effective for both cutting and thrusting.

thumb|upright=0.6|Syrian shamshir from the Royal Armoury, Stockholm A shamshir () is a type of Iranian sword with a radical curve. The name is derived from the Persian word shamshīr, which is made of two words sham ("fang") and shir ("lion"). The curved "scimitar" sword family includes the shamshir, kilij, talwar, pulwar, and nimcha.

single-edged Chinese sword primarily used for slashing and chopping

A falchion (; Old French: fauchon; Latin: falx, "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century. In some versions, the falchion looks rather like the seax and later the sabre, and in other versions more like a machete with a crossguard.

thumb|Greek hoplite (standing) fighting against a Persian archer. Both are using a kopis. Depiction in ancient kylix, 5th century BC, National Archaeological Museum of Athens. thumb|Greek kopis, 5th–4th centuries BC, iron, Metropolitan Museum of Art. thumb|Modern reproduction of a kopis

thumb|94px|right|Iberian falcata

The talwar (), also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent.

thumb|Various kilij from the Hellenic War Museum (Athens, Greece) thumb|upright=0.6|Ottoman kilij 19th century; this type with a short, broad blade is known as a "pala"; blade, total. A kilij (from Turkish kılıç, literally "sword") is a type of one-handed, single-edged and curved scimitar used by the Seljuk Empire, Timurid Empire, Mamluk Empire, Ottoman Empire, and other Turkic khanates of Eurasian steppes and Turkestan. These blades developed from earlier Turko-Mongol sabers that were in use in lands controlled or influenced by the Turkic peoples.

thumb|300px|Reconstructions of Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean swords, the bottom one a makhaira-type sword The makhaira is a type of Ancient Greek bladed weapon and tool, generally a large knife or sword, similar in appearance to the modern-day machete, with a single cutting edge.

large cutting tool of Filipino origin

thumb|300px|Figure illustrating the basic cuts with the Dusäck in Joachim Meyer's fencing manual; a pair of fencers using the Dusäck is shown in the background (illustration by [[Tobias Stimmer, 1570).]] A dusack or dussack (also dusägge and variants, from Czech tesák "cleaver; hunting sword", lit. "fang") is a single-edged sword of the cutlass or sabre type, in use as a side arm in Germany and the Habsburg monarchy during the 16th to 17th centuries, as well as a practice weapon based on this weapon used in early modern German fencing.

cold weapon

The is a ceremonial sword that was produced for the Imperial Japanese army and navy after the introduction of conscription in 1872.

thumb|400px|A type of military backsword – a British 1796 heavy cavalry sword purchased by Sweden in 1808. A backsword is a type of sword characterised by having a single-edged blade and a hilt with a single-handed grip. It is so called because the triangular cross section gives a flat back edge opposite the cutting edge. Later examples often have a "false edge" on the back near the tip, which was in many cases sharpened to make an actual edge and facilitate thrusting attacks. From around the early 14th century, the backsword became the first type of European sword to be fitted with a knuckle

thumb|200px|Afghan pulwar, 19th century mounts, earlier (17th to 18th century) deeply curved 82 cm blade of damascus watered steel, inlaid on one side with maker's mark and Islamic inscription, other gold inlays throughout the blade, large iron hilt with characteristic down turned quillions and brass rivet caps, inside measurement 104 cm, leather over wood scabbard with iron chape. The pulwar or pulouar () is a single-handed curved sword originating in Afghanistan.

thumb|350px|Karabela sabre, 17th century right|thumb|150px|Karabela of King Sigismund III of Poland

thumb|Miaodao in its scabbard thumb|upright|Miaodao blade The miaodao (苗刀) is a Chinese two-handed dao or saber, with a narrow blade, long hilt, and an overall length of or longer. The name means "sprout saber", presumably referring to a likeness between the weapon and a newly sprouted plant. An early reference, in Jin Yiming's Single Defense-Saber, makes a connection between the miaodao and the Qing-era wodao, as well as mentioning both single and two-handed versions of the miaodao, suggesting that the name originally described the shape only, without any connotations of size. While the miaod

type of sword

Pichangatti is a broad-bladed knife of the Kodavas of Karnataka, India. The characteristic of the pichangatti is its silver hilt with bulbous-shaped pommel in the shape of a parrot's head. The pichangatti features in the traditional male dress of the Kodavas.This is a weapon used only by kodavas

swords designed specifically for hunting

type of broad bladed weapon

thumb| The changdao () was a two-handed, single-edged Chinese sword. The term has been translated as "long saber," "saber-staff," or "long-handled saber." During the Ming dynasty, was often used as a general term for two-handed swords and was used in the frequent raids along the coast. After Republican Era, the term is sometimes used to describe due to similarity. Tang dynasty sources describe the as being identical to the (), but the may have been a double-edged weapon like earlier zhanmajian.