Damascus steel
1
8.5
- noun
- /dəˈmæskəs stil/
- Specialized
:
acero de Damasco
- CUT TO: A sword blade cleaving the darkness, radiant light slicing across gleaming Damascus steel.
Looks like we have a nice metal Damascus steel fixed blade knife here with a leather sheath.
- Looks like we have a nice metal Damascus steel fixed blade knife here with a leather sheath.
Examples
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Four acid-etched feet of blood-soaked Damascus steel.
Fiction book (1998) -
The knight wielded a sword made of Damascus steel, renowned for its sharpness and strength.
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A blade that could carve through Damascus steel.
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No, it's Damascus steel.
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These include Damascus steel, desert ironwood and dinosaur bone, among many others.
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Damascus steel.
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According to Doctor Manu Chair Khosani, it's possible that they even bore some of the earliest forms of Damascus steel, known as Shapuragan.
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She admired the intricate patterns on the Damascus steel blade displayed in the museum.
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In historical battles, warriors favored swords crafted from Damascus steel for their durability.
Synonyms
Hard steel with a wavy pattern used to make strong, decorated sword blades
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a compositional toponymic noun phrase: 'Damascus' (a city) + 'steel' yields the straightforward idea of 'steel from Damascus' or a kind of steel associated with that place. A B1 learner who knows both words will therefore grasp the core meaning (a type/kind of steel linked to Damascus), even if they may not know the specialised historical properties (patterning, legendary hardness).
Etymology
Damascus steel comes from the old city of Damascus, where traders sold sword blades whose metal showed dark, wavy, water-like patterns in the steel. People liked these blades because they were very sharp and tough, so the name came to mean a special kind of 'steel' that is 'strong' and 'sharp'.