# Machete

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{{Short description|Type of broad and heavy knife}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
thumb|Machete/saw combo
[[File:Agustín Cruz Tinoco working.jpg|thumb|Mexican artisan [Agustín Cruz Tinoco](/source/Agust%C3%ADn_Cruz_Tinoco) using a machete to carve wood]]
thumb|Mexican machete, from Guerrero, 1970. bull horn handle, hand forged blade (hammer marks visible)
thumb|Campos Hermanos Mexican machete with blade 75 centimeters long and 93 total.

A '''machete''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|ʃ|ɛ|t|i}}; {{IPA|es|maˈtʃete}}) is a broad [blade](/source/blade) originating from [Central America](/source/Central_America). It is used either as an agricultural implement similar to an [axe](/source/axe), or in combat like a long-bladed [knife](/source/knife). The blade is typically {{convert|30|to|66|cm|in}} long and usually under {{convert|3|mm|in|frac=16}} thick. In the [Spanish language](/source/Spanish_language), the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word ''macho'', which was used to refer to sledgehammers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=machete|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|work=etymonline.com|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref> Alternatively, its origin may be ''[machaera](/source/makhaira)'', the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the [falcata](/source/falcata).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archivoshistoria.com/la-falcata-arma-iberica-o-mito-romantico/|title = La falcata ¿mito romántico o realidad? - Archivos de la Historia|date = 8 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.armas.es/arma-blanca/el-machete-abriendose-paso-en-jungla-y-combate|title = El Machete: Abriéndose paso en jungla y combate - Mundo Armas| last1=Es | first1=Armas }}</ref> It is the origin of the [English language](/source/English_language)  equivalent term ''matchet'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/matchet |title=matchet |work=Dictionary/thesaurus |publisher=The Free Dictionary |access-date=7 February 2009}}</ref> though this is rarely used. In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1481752359 Blair, Teresa P. ''A-Z of Jamaican Patois (Patwah),'' Page 49, Google Books Result]</ref> Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, the term ''[cutlass](/source/cutlass)'' is used for these agricultural tools.<ref name= "Klein">{{cite magazine | last=Klein | first=John | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/what-is-a-machete-anyway/280705/ | title=What Is a Machete, Anyway? | magazine=The Atlantic | date=21 October 2013 | access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

== Uses ==

=== Agriculture===
In various tropical and subtropical countries, the machete is frequently used to cut through [rainforest](/source/rainforest) undergrowth and for agricultural purposes (e.g. cutting [sugar cane](/source/sugar_cane)).<ref name="FranzRogers2012">{{Cite book |last1=Franz |first1=Carl |last2=Havens |first2=Lorena |editor1-last=Rogers |editor1-first=Steve |editor2-last=Rogers |editor2-first=Felisa Churpa Rosa |date=2012 |title=The People's Guide to Mexico |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2YZgJJXj1YC&pg=PA278 |edition=14th |location=Berkeley, Calif. |publisher=Avalon Travel |pages=277–278 |isbn=978-1-61238-049-0}}</ref> Besides this, in [Latin America](/source/Latin_America) a common use is for such household tasks as cutting large foodstuffs into pieces—much as a [cleaver](/source/cleaver_(knife)) is used—or to perform crude cutting tasks, such as making simple wooden handles for other tools.<ref name="FranzRogers2012"/> It is common to see people using machetes for other jobs, such as splitting open [coconut](/source/coconut)s, yard work, removing small branches and plants, chopping food, and clearing bushes.<ref name="FranzRogers2012"/>

Machetes are often considered tools and used by adults. However, many [hunter–gatherer](/source/hunter%E2%80%93gatherer) societies and cultures surviving through [subsistence agriculture](/source/subsistence_agriculture) begin teaching babies to use sharp tools, including machetes, before their first birthdays.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/how_babies_work/2013/04/09/bad_parenting_ideas_that_are_actually_good_for_some_babies.html|title=Give Your Baby a Machete|last=Day|first=Nicholas|date=9 April 2013|work=[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))|access-date=19 April 2013}}</ref>

=== Warfare ===
People in uprisings sometimes use these weapons. For example, the [Boricua Popular Army](/source/Boricua_Popular_Army) are unofficially called ''[macheteros](/source/Los_Macheteros)'' because of the machete-wielding laborers of sugar cane fields of past [Puerto Rico](/source/Puerto_Rico).<ref name="Martin2011">{{cite book|last=Martin|first=Gus|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_jh4VBi_HYC&pg=PA490|date=15 June 2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4129-8016-6|page=490}}</ref>

Many of the killings in the 1994 [Rwandan genocide](/source/Rwandan_genocide) were performed with machetes,<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Verwimp | first1 = P. | title = Machetes and Firearms: the Organization of Massacres in Rwanda | journal = Journal of Peace Research | volume = 43| issue = 1 | pages = 5–22| year = 2006 | doi = 10.1177/0022343306059576| doi-access =  }}</ref> and they were the primary weapon used by the [Interahamwe](/source/Interahamwe) militias there.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mary |last=Braid |title=The Jungle Massacre: African rebels who revel in their machete genocide |work=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent) |date=3 March 1999 |access-date=6 February 2009 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-jungle-massacre-african-rebels-who-revel-in-their-machete-genocide-1077954.html |archive-date=12 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112170811/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-jungle-massacre-african-rebels-who-revel-in-their-machete-genocide-1077954.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Machetes were also a distinctive tool and weapon of the [Haiti](/source/Haiti)an ''[Tonton Macoute](/source/Tonton_Macoute)''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haitianmedia.com/index.php/46 |title=Tonton Macoute |work=Haiti History |publisher=Haitian Media |access-date=6 February 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103074957/http://www.haitianmedia.com/index.php/46 |archive-date=3 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1762, the [British](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain) captured [Havana](/source/Havana) in a [lengthy siege](/source/Siege_of_Havana) during the [Seven Years' War](/source/Seven_Years'_War). Volunteer [militia](/source/militia)men led by Pepe Antonio, a [Guanabacoa](/source/Guanabacoa) councilman, were issued with machetes during the unsuccessful defense of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cubanow.net/articles/why-did-english-take-over-havana |title=Why Did The English Take Over Havana? |first=Mildrey |last=Ponce |year=2007 |publisher=Cuba Now |access-date=6 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143344/http://www.cubanow.net/articles/why-did-english-take-over-havana |archive-date=14 July 2014  }}</ref> The machete was also the most iconic weapon during the [independence wars](/source/History_of_Cuba) in Cuba, although it saw limited battlefield use.<ref>{{cite book |first=John Lawrence |last=Tone |title=War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895–1898 |publisher=[University of North Carolina Press](/source/University_of_North_Carolina_Press) |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8078-3006-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxRVaAPpeCsC |chapter=Chapter 10: Mal Tiempo and the Romance of the Machete |pages=126–127}}</ref> [Carlos Manuel de Céspedes](/source/Carlos_Manuel_de_C%C3%A9spedes), owner of the [sugar refinery](/source/sugar_refinery) ''La Demajagua'' near [Manzanillo](/source/Manzanillo%2C_Cuba), freed his slaves on 10 October 1868. He proceeded to lead them, armed with machetes, in revolt against the Spanish government.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cuba |first=A G |last=Gravette |edition=5the |publisher=New Holland Publishers |isbn=978-1-84537-860-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7B51dAgT8MC |chapter=Chapter 7: The Southern Peninsula |page=106 |date=28 September 2007}}</ref> The first [cavalry](/source/cavalry) charge using machetes as the primary weapon was carried out on 4 November 1868 by [Máximo Gómez](/source/M%C3%A1ximo_G%C3%B3mez), a sergeant born in the [Dominican Republic](/source/Dominican_Republic), who later became the general in chief of the [Cuban Army](/source/Cuban_Liberation_Army).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/minfar/defensa_ingles/imaximo.htm |title=Major General Máximo Gómez Báez |access-date=6 February 2009 |work=Revolutionary Armed Forces |publisher=Gobierno de la Republica de Cuba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000649/http://www.cubagob.cu/otras_info/minfar/defensa_ingles/imaximo.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The machete is a common [side arm](/source/Sidearm_(weapon)) and tool for many ethnic groups in [West Africa](/source/West_Africa). Machetes in this role are referenced in [Chinua Achebe](/source/Chinua_Achebe)'s ''[Things Fall Apart](/source/Things_Fall_Apart)''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/things/summary.html |title=Plot Overview |work=Things Fall Apart |publisher=[SparkNotes](/source/SparkNotes) |access-date=6 February 2009}}</ref>

Some countries have a name for the blow of a machete; the [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language) ''machetazo'' is sometimes used in English.<ref name="Sturges2010">{{cite book|last=Sturges|first=James Walter|title=Machetes in the Trunk: Three Weeks in Panama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plSb1MoA0hQC&pg=PA31|date=August 2010|publisher=James Sturges|isbn=978-1-4404-8664-7|page=31}}</ref> In the [British Virgin Islands](/source/British_Virgin_Islands), [Grenada](/source/Grenada), [Jamaica](/source/Jamaica), [Saint Kitts and Nevis](/source/Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis), [Barbados](/source/Barbados), Saint Lucia, and [Trinidad and Tobago](/source/Trinidad_and_Tobago), the word ''planass'' means to hit someone with the flat of the blade of a machete or cutlass.<ref name="Allsopp">{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage |first=Richard |last=Allsopp |publisher=[University of the West Indies Press](/source/University_of_the_West_Indies_Press) |year=2003 |isbn=978-976-640-145-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmvSk13sIc0C |pages= 184, 442–443}}</ref> To strike with the sharpened edge is to "chop". Throughout the English-speaking islands of the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean), the term "cutlass" refers to a laborers' cutting tool.<ref name="Allsopp"/>

The [Brazilian Army](/source/Brazilian_Army)'s Instruction Center on Jungle Warfare developed a machete-style knife with a blade {{convert|10|in|cm|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length and a very pronounced [clip point](/source/Blade). This machete is issued with a {{convert|5|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on|0}} [Bowie knife](/source/Bowie_knife) and a [sharpening stone](/source/sharpening_stone) in the scabbard, collectively called a "jungle kit" (''Conjunto de Selva'' in [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language)); it is manufactured by Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil ([IMBEL](/source/IMBEL)).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snstecnologia.com.br/imbel3/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429033710/http://www.snstecnologia.com.br/imbel3/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=117 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 April 2021 |title=Conjunto de Selva |work=Produtos |publisher=[Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil](/source/IMBEL) |access-date=20 February 2012 }}</ref>

The machete was used as a weapon during the [Mau Mau rebellion](/source/Mau_Mau_rebellion), and in [South Africa](/source/South_Africa), particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s when the former province of [Natal](/source/Natal_Province) was wracked by conflict between the [African National Congress](/source/African_National_Congress) and the [Zulu](/source/Zulu_people)-nationalist [Inkatha Freedom Party](/source/Inkatha_Freedom_Party).<ref name="Cavaleri2005">{{cite book|last=Cavaleri|first=David P.|title=The Law of War: Can 20th Century Standards Apply to the Global War on Terrorism?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gq820_ESKXgC&pg=PA66|year=2005|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-1-4379-2301-8|page=66}}</ref>

== Manufacture ==
[[File:A craftsman sharpening a machete in Lira, Uganda.jpg|thumb|A [Uganda](/source/Uganda)n craftsman sharpening a machete]]
Good machetes rely on the materials used and the shape. In the past, the most famous manufacturer of machetes in [Latin America](/source/Latin_America) and the Spanish-speaking [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean) was Collins Company of [Collinsville](/source/Collinsville_(Canton%2C_Connecticut)), [Connecticut](/source/Connecticut).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/consularservice01jonegoog |first=Chester Lloyd |last=Jones |title=The Consular Service of the United States: Its History and Activities |year=1906 |publisher=[University of Pennsylvania Press](/source/University_of_Pennsylvania_Press) |location=Philadelphia |page=[https://archive.org/details/consularservice01jonegoog/page/n86 72]}}</ref> The company was founded as Collins & Company in 1826 by [Samuel W. Collins](/source/Samuel_W._Collins) to make [axe](/source/axe)s.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry J. |last=Kauffman |title=American Axes: A Survey of Their Development and Their Makers |chapter=III: The Nineteenth Century |publisher=Masthof Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-1-883294-12-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5ZiYCZRdHwC |page=30}}</ref> Its first machetes were sold in 1845<ref>{{cite book |title=Collins' Machetes and Bowies, 1845-1965 |first=Daniel Edward |last=Henry |publisher=Krause Publications |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-87341-403-6 |page=15}}</ref> and became so famous that a machete was called {{lang|es|un collin}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=Oliver |last=La Farge |title=A Pictorial History of the American Indian |url=https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory00lafa |url-access=registration |publisher=Crown Publishers |year=1956 |page=[https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory00lafa/page/219 219]}}</ref> In the English-speaking Caribbean, Robert Mole & Sons of Birmingham, England, was long considered the manufacturer of agricultural cutlasses of the best quality. Some Robert Mole blades survive as souvenirs of travellers to Trinidad,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6121694|title=1566: Vintage Trinidad Machete in Leather Sheath : Lot 1566|work=liveauctioneers.com|access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref> Jamaica, and, less commonly, St. Lucia.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

[Colombia](/source/Colombia) is the largest exporter of machetes worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2014/04/12/activos/190612|title=Colombia líder – La Prensa|date=12 April 2014|website=laprensa.com.ni|access-date=1 May 2018|archive-date=14 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414094016/http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2014/04/12/activos/190612|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Cultural influence ==
[[File:Flag of Angola.svg|thumb|The [Flag of Angola](/source/Flag_of_Angola)]]

The [flag of Angola](/source/flag_of_Angola) features a machete, along with a [cog-wheel](/source/cog-wheel) as [communist symbol](/source/communist_symbol)s.

The southern [Brazil](/source/Brazil)ian state of [Rio Grande do Sul](/source/Rio_Grande_do_Sul) has a dance called the ''dança dos facões'' (machetes' dance) in which the dancers, who are usually men, bang their machetes against various surfaces while dancing, simulating a battle. ''[Maculelê](/source/Maculel%C3%AA_(dance))'', an [Afro-Brazilian](/source/Afro-Brazilian) dance and martial art, can also be performed with ''facões''. This practice began in the city of [Santo Amaro, Bahia](/source/Santo_Amaro%2C_Bahia), in the northeastern part of the country.<ref>{{cite book |first=John Lowell |last=Lewis |title=Ring of Liberation: Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeira |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-226-47683-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/ringofliberation0000lewi |url-access=registration |chapter=3: Capoeira in Salvador |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ringofliberation0000lewi/page/54 54]–55}}</ref>

In the [Jalisco](/source/Jalisco) region of [Mexico](/source/Mexico), Los Machetes is a popular folk dance. This dance tells the story of cutting down sugar cane during the harvest. Los Machetes was created by Mexican farm workers who spent a great amount of time perfecting the use of the tool, the machete, for harvesting. Traditionally, real machetes are used while performing this dance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Los Machetes - Folk Dance Fun! |url=https://www.sallysseaofsongs.com/2015/05/los-machetes-folk-dance-fun.html | author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Sally's Sea of Songs |access-date=March 16, 2024}}</ref>

== Similar tools ==
The '''''panga''''' or ''tapanga'' is a variant used in [East](/source/East_Africa) and [Southern Africa](/source/Southern_Africa). This name may be of [Swahili](/source/Swahili_language) etymology; not to be confused with the [panga fish](/source/panga_fish). The ''panga'' blade broadens on the backside and has a length of {{convert|16|to|18|in|cm|0|order=flip|abbr=on}}. The upper inclined portion of the blade may be sharpened.<ref>{{cite book |title=Farm Implements for Small-scale Farmers in Tanzania |first=Björn |last=Mothander |author2=Finn Kjærby |author3=Kjell J. Havnevik  |publisher=Nordic Africa Institute |year=1989 |isbn=978-91-7106-290-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0N0mJ8cvM2gC |pages=36–37}}</ref>

[[File:Basih weapons.jpg|thumb|The traditional [bolos](/source/Bolo_knife) of the [Philippines](/source/Philippines) are sometimes incorrectly known as "bolo machetes"]]
In the [Philippines](/source/Philippines), the various indigenous swords and knives (known under the general term [bolo](/source/bolo_knife)) are commonly incorrectly described as a type of machete (as "bolo machete"). But bolos are unrelated to the machete. They are pre-colonial and hand-forged (unlike mass-produced machetes), with distinct types that differ by ethnic group.<ref name="Bolieu">{{cite web |last1=Bolieu |first1=Reuben |title=Forged Filipino Bolo Knives |url=https://www.knivesillustrated.com/forged-filipino-bolo-knives/ |website=Knives Illustrated |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> The most obvious difference is the shape of the cutting edge, which is typically curved in bolos and more or less straight in machetes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alth |first1=Max |title=Sharpening Hand Tools: Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-66 |date=1982 |publisher=Storey Publishing, LLC |isbn=9781603425971}}</ref> Bolos are also usually shorter than machetes, at around {{convert|25|to|45|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, and are adapted to a wider range of uses.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thecontentauthority.com/blog/machete-vs-bolo|title=Machete vs Bolo: Decoding Common Word Mix-Ups |website=The Content Authority |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tait |first1=Matt |title=Bolo: Filipino survival blade |url=https://sevenswords.uk/bolo/ |website=Seven Swords |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref>

Other similar tools include the ''[parang](/source/parang_(knife))''<ref>{{cite book |title=A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: In All Countries and in All Times|first=George Cameron |last=Stone |author2=Donald J. LaRocca |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-486-40726-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4Rp_Qx9in4C |pages=481–482}}</ref> and the ''[golok](/source/golok)''<ref>{{cite book |title=A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: In All Countries and in All Times |first=George Cameron |last=Stone |author-link=George Cameron Stone |author2=Donald J. LaRocca |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-486-40726-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A4Rp_Qx9in4C |page=249}}</ref> (from [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia) and [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia)); however, these tend to have shorter, thicker blades with a [primary grind](/source/primary_grind), and are more effective on woody vegetation.

The tsakat is a similar tool used in [Armenia](/source/Armenia) for clearing land of vegetation.

Other similar tools include:

* [Billhook](/source/Billhook)
* [Dusack](/source/Dusack)
* [Golok](/source/Golok)
* [Kopis](/source/Kopis)
* [Kukri](/source/Kukri)
* [Seax](/source/Seax)
* [Sorocaban Knife](/source/Sorocaban_Knife)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Machetes}}

{{Knives}}
{{Forestry tools}}
{{Garden tools}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Machetes
Category:American inventions
Category:Edged and bladed weapons
Category:Camping equipment
Category:Forestry tools
Category:Gardening tools
Category:Hiking equipment
Category:National symbols of Angola

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Machete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.