Scimitar

A scimitar is a type of sword. It is a curved, bladed weapon that was in common use amongst Muslim cultures in the Middle East in Central and South Asia during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The earliest known use of scimitars is from the 9th century. Their light weight and curved designed made them ideal weapons for use while riding horses. In addition to warfare, scimitars were also used as tools of execution where prisoners were beheaded for their crimes.

In the 1992 Disney animated series Aladdin, the Sultan's guards were all armed with scimitars, though they called them swords. They chased Aladdin through the streets of Agrabah and even Aladdin's monkey companion, Abu, was able to defend himself when he took a sword from a nearby fire-eater.

In the 1975 Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a member of the repressed masses known as Dennis insulted the validity of King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, by referring to it as a scimitar.