劍

It is a phono-semantic compound, consisting of:

刀 (do, “knife, blade”) as the semantic element;

僉 (cheom, “all, together”) as the phonetic element.

검술 (劍術) – swordsmanship

쌍검 (雙劍) – twin swords

명검 (名劍) – famous sword

군검 (軍劍) – military sword

Distinction from 刀

劍 (검) generally refers to a double-edged sword.

刀 (도) generally refers to a single-edged blade.

In Korean both 刀 and 劍 are glossed simply as 칼 (“knife/sword”), though the Sino-Korean readings differ (도 vs. 검).

劒 is a variant form of 劍. In fact, in the Shuowen Jiezi (説文解字 shuōwén jiězì), the headword was the small seal form corresponding to 劒.

This form appears clearly in works such as 융원필비 (Yungwon Pilbi, 1813, compiled by Park Jong-gyeong).

Traditionally, 검 (劍) referred to a sword with a scabbard, while 도 (刀) referred to a blade without a scabbard. Over time, the distinction blurred, and by the Joseon period (e.g. at the time of Yungwon Pilbi), 도 could also be used to refer to swords with scabbards.