Machete

Machete/saw combo
Mexican artisan Agustín Cruz Tinoco using a machete to carve wood
Mexican machete, from Guerrero, 1970. bull horn handle, hand forged blade (hammer marks visible)
Campos Hermanos Mexican machete with blade 75 centimeters long and 93 total.

A machete (/məˈʃɛti/; Spanish pronunciation: [maˈtʃete]) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically 30 to 66 centimetres (12 to 26 in) long and usually under 3 millimetres (18 in) thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word macho, which was used to refer to sledgehammers.[1] Alternatively, its origin may be machaera, the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the falcata.[2][3] It is the origin of the English language equivalent term matchet,[4] though this is rarely used. In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica,[5] Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, the term cutlass is used for these agricultural tools.[6]

  1. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  2. ^ "La falcata ¿mito romántico o realidad? - Archivos de la Historia". 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ Es, Armas. "El Machete: Abriéndose paso en jungla y combate - Mundo Armas".
  4. ^ "matchet". Dictionary/thesaurus. The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  5. ^ Blair, Teresa P. A-Z of Jamaican Patois (Patwah), Page 49, Google Books Result
  6. ^ Klein, John (21 October 2013). "What Is a Machete, Anyway?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 January 2015.