sense of "irregular sword or sword of uncertain origin". It was "[a sword] which was neither French, nor Spanish, nor properly [[Landsknecht]] [German], but longer than any of these sturdy swords." Espée bastarde could also historically refer to a single-handed sword with a fairly long blade compared to other short swords.

Joseph Swetnam states that the bastard sword is midway in length between an arming sword and a long sword, and Randall Cotgrave's definition seems to imply this,