Cutlass

A short, broad-bladed sword historically associated with sailors and naval boarding actions.

A cutlass normally has a single-edged, slightly curved blade and a substantial hand guard. Its compact form suited close-quarter use aboard ships from roughly the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

The word is unrelated to the propeller-shaft bearing often called a “cutlass bearing.” The established bearing term is Cutless bearing, and that mechanical meaning should remain in its own glossary entry.