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Originally Posted by Madnumforce
...I can't be absolutely certain the word "machete" derives from "machaira"/"machaera", but it's the best contestant so far... (I had looked in a Spanish etymology dictionary, and it was bullcrap: they claimed it was the contraction of "macho" (man/macho) and "hacheta" (hatchet))...
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It seems as, in a more serious Spanish theory (Corominas) a different acceptation of the term "macho" is given, as not being "male" (not man), but a large "mazzo" (mallet), thus with a distinct approach. If you find the time or disposition to have this article translated, you will most probably find it interesting:
http://armasyarmadurasenespaa.blogsp...l-machete.html
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Originally Posted by Madnumforce
... In Portuguese, the word for billhook is foice...
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Well it depends from which end you pick it from; a foice is at first the highly curved one to cut grass and wheat; a billhook is more like a hafted hook version for pruning, usually called podão or podoa.
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Originally Posted by Madnumforce
...There is also faca that you mention, and fação just came to mean "(large) knife", and thus is used to refer to machetes...
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The large knife is facão, not fação; a hell of a difference
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Originally Posted by Madnumforce
... So in Brazil today, machetes are called falchions...
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Is that so ?
