matchet

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

matchet / ˈmætʃət/ noun

1. an earlier name for machete

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ma•chet•e /məˈʃɛti, -ˈtʃɛti/   n. [countable] , pl. -chet•es. 

1. a heavy swordlike knife used as a cutting tool in farming:
   to hack through the grasses with a machete.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ma•chet•e  (mə shet′ē, -chet′ē), n. 

1. a large heavy knife used esp. in Latin-American countries in cutting sugarcane and clearing underbrush and as a weapon.
2. Fish a tarpon, Elops affinis, of the eastern Pacific Ocean, having an elongated, compressed body.

• Spanish, equivalent. to mach(o) mallet (compare mace¹) + -ete noun, nominal suffix
• 1825–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

machete / məˈʃɛtɪ -ˈtʃeɪ-/, matchet noun

1. a broad heavy knife used for cutting or as a weapon, esp in parts of Central and South America

Etymology: 16th Century macheto, from Spanish machete, from macho club, perhaps from Vulgar Latin mattea (unattested) club