"sword with a broad blade," Old English brad swurd, from broad (adj.) + sword.
Entries linking to broadsword
broad adj.
Old English brad "wide, not narrow," also "flat, open, extended," from Proto-Germanic *braidi- (source also of Old Frisian bred, Old Norse breiðr, Dutch breed, German breit, Gothic brouþs), which is of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic languages. There is no clear distinction in sense from wide. Of day or daylight, late 14c.; of speech or accents, 1530s. Related: Broadly; broadness.
sword n.
Old English sweord, swyrd (West Saxon), sword (Northumbrian) "sword," from Proto-Germanic *swerdam (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian swerd, Old Norse sverð, Swedish svärd, Middle Dutch swaert, Dutch zwaard, Old High German swert, German Schwert "a sword"), related to Old High German sweran "to hurt," from *swertha-, literally "the cutting weapon," from PIE root *swer- (3) "to cut, pierce."
Contrast with plowshare is from the Old Testament (Isaiah ii.4, Micah iv.3). Phrase put (originally do) to the sword "kill, slaughter" is recorded from mid-14c. An older Germanic word for it is in Old Saxon heoru, Gothic hairus "a sword."