  the term kopis (from greek ÎºÎ¿ÏÎ¯Ï, plural kopidesÎºÎ¿ÏÎ¯Ï, henry george liddell, robert scott, an intermediate greek-english lexicon, on perseus from ÎºÏÏÏÏ - koptÅ, "to cut, to strike";ÎºÏÏÏÏ, henry george liddell, robert scott, an intermediate greek-english lexicon, on perseus alternatively a derivation from the ancient egyptian term khopesh for a cutting sword has been postulatedgordon, d.h. (1958) "scimitars, sabres and falchions". in man, vol 58, p. 24) in ancient greece could describe a heavy knife with a forward-curving blade, primarily used as a tool for cutting meat, for ritual slaughter and animal sacrifice, or refer to a single edged cutting or "cut and thrust" sword with a similarly shaped blade. ==characteristics== the kopis sword was a one-handed weapon. early examples had a blade length of up to 65&nbsp;cm, making it almost equal in size to the spatha. later macedonian examples tended to be shorter with a blade length of about 48&nbsp;cm. the kopis had a single-edged blade that pitched forward towards the point, the edge being concave on the part of the sword nearest the hilt, but swelling to convexity towards the tip. this shape, often termed "recurved", distributes the weight in such a way that the kopis was capable of delivering a blow with the momentum of an axe, whilst maintaining the long cutting edge of a sword and some facility to execute a thrust. some scholars have claimed an etruscan origin for the sword, as such swords have been found as early as the 7th century bc in etruria.connolly, p. (1981) greece and rome at war. macdonald phoebus, london, pp. 63 and 99. the kopis is often compared to the contemporary iberian falcata and the more recent, and shorter, nepalese kukri. the word itself is a greek feminine singular noun. the difference in meaning between kopis and makhaira (Î¼Î¬ÏÎ±Î¹ÏÎ±, another greek word, meaning "chopper" or "short sword", "dagger") is not entirely clear in ancient texts,for a good summary of the evidence, see f. quesada sanz: "mÃ¡chaira, kopÃ­s, falcata" in homenaje a fra
Ancient_European_swords Ancient_Greek_military_equipment Ancient_Greek_military_terminology Single-edged_swords