A term first used in German and later seen in English around 1450 C.E. which refers to a sword that has both a long blade and a long handle. They were 40 to 48 inches long with 7 to 9 of that being the handle. In great contrast to popular knowledge, these weapons did not weigh their owners down, averaging out at 2.5 to 3.5 pounds. This was the only type of sword in use by European armies until around 1150C.E., excluding the Viking leaved sword, which was almost unseen after 1050C.E..
The earliest examples had wide, thin blades with almost no tip, as few soldiers had any kind of armor and those few with swords could easily fell them with slashes. Later on, they took on almost a hexagonal shape to keep the blade more rigid for the thrusts that made maille useless.
Resources:
Medieval Swordsmanship, by John Clements