(weapons) An ancient long-handled weapon, of which the head had a point and several long, sharp edges, curved or straight, and sometimes additional points. The heads were sometimes of very elaborate form.
1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 52.:Halberts are of a variety of forms, they are commonly mounted on staves of seven feet long, with a pointed ferril at the end, for the purpose of sticking them in the ground.
