In British English, sabre is the curved, single-edged sword traditionally carried by cavalry and the weapon used in Olympic fencing, while Saber is simply a surname. If you are writing about a sword or a fencing bout, reach for sabre: "The officer's ceremonial sabre hung above the mantelpiece."
The core difference
Sabre names the cavalry sword and fencing weapon; Saber is a surname, unrelated in spelling role.
- sabre — the curved, single-edged cavalry sword, also the Olympic fencing discipline: She won gold in the women's individual sabre event.
- Saber — a surname: Mr. Saber signed the lease this morning.
How to tell them apart
Because the two words sound identical, it is easy to type one for the other. If your sentence is about a weapon, a duel, or a fencing bout, you want sabre. If you are writing someone's name, it is Saber, with a capital letter as any surname takes.
The mix-up tends to show up in fiction and history writing, where a character's surname can sit only a few lines away from a description of the sword at their side, making it worth a second glance before you send the page off.
