A long curved dagger or short sword used in the Ottoman Empire and other Islamic cultures, typically with a wide curved blade.
From Turkish 'yatağan', which possibly derives from a place name or a craftsperson's name. The word entered English through Ottoman-European contact in the 16th-17th centuries.
The ataghan's curved blade was incredibly practical—the curve meant you could slash more powerfully than with a straight blade, and it became iconic in Ottoman military culture!
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