bookandswordblogArr mateys! English cutlass, Marlowe's curtle-axe, Middle French coutelas from couteau "knife", also appears in sixteenth-century German as Cordelas. Sources to follow. 1/2 #philology #pirate #sword
Middle French word: http://www.atilf.fr/dmf/definition/coutelas
German word https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Haenel_Kostbare_Waffen/Tafel_43
Chr. Marlowe, "Tamburlane the Great," eg. act 2 scene 3
COSROE. Come, Tamburlaine; now whet thy winged sword,
And lift thy lofty arm into the clouds, ...
TAMBURLAINE. See where it is, the keenest curtle-axe
That e'er made passage thorough Persian arms!
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