A melee weapon, hand weapon, close combat weapon or fist-load weapon is any handheld
weapon used in
hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more effective) extension of the user's limbs. By contrast, a
ranged weapon is any other weapon capable of engaging targets at a distance beyond immediate physical contact.[1]
Etymology
The term melee originates in the 1640s from the French word mêlée, which refers to disorganized hand-to-hand combat, a close-quarters battle, a brawl, or a confused fight; especially involving many combatants.[2][3][4]
The 1812 tabletop war game Kriegsspiel referred to the hand-combat stage of the game as a melee.[5] Later war games would follow this pattern.[6][7][8] From there, gamers would eventually begin to call the weapons used in that stage melee weapons.[9][10]
Categories
Melee weapons can be broadly divided into three categories:
Pointed weapons, which cover
spears,
pikes,
lances, and
military forks. They typically have a sharp point designed to inflict
penetrating trauma, even against heavily armoured opponents, and the length of such weapons gives a range advantage. Certain variants may also hook at enemies to disrupt and disarm them, or pull them from atop horses.
Edged weapons, which cover
swords,
daggers,
battle axes, and
war scythes. These weapons are designed to cause sharp trauma such as
laceration,
dismemberment, and
exsanguination injuries, and are most effective against minimally armoured opponents. These are used to cut, hack, slash, thrust or stab.
Blunt weapons, which cover
clubs,
maces,
war hammers,
staves, and
flails. These weapons are designed to cause
blunt trauma, even through armour that would protect against penetration by pointed or edged weapons.
Many weapons fit into multiple categories, or fit in between them; many polearms such as
halberds,
lucerne hammers, and guisarmes add edged and blunt methods of attack to a spear base, and various
hooked weapons such as
billhooks, fauchards,
falxes, and becs de corbin evade simple classification; while flexible weapons such as
whips don't fall into any of these categories.
^Michele Byam (2010-11-30). Arms and Armor, Discover the story of weapons and armor-from Stone Age axes to the battledress of samurai warriors. New York: Dorling Kindersley.
^Oxford English Dictionary. 2015. mêlée. "A battle or engagement at close quarters, a skirmish; a confused struggle or scuffle, esp. one involving many people. Also hist.: a tournament involving two groups of combatants."
^W. R. Livermore (1882).
The American Kriegsspiel(PDF). Riverside Press, Cambridge. p. 105.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2019-08-14. The first point to be considered is the number of combatants on either side and the relative advantages under which they are fighting; the second the losses and duration of the melee
^H.G. Wells (1913).
Little Wars. Frank Palmer Publishing. We did at last contrive to do so ; we invented what we call the melee, and our revised rules in the event of a melee will be found set out upon a later page