Nobody is sure of the exact meaning, but it applies to an ancient sword so that ought to give you an idea.

An adjective originating in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" poem in <i>Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Saw There</i>. Due to his description of it, most generally would agree that it deals with slashing damage severing a limb or head; however, it can be stretched to mean any form of weapon that can possibly kill in one blow, considering the word itself is a "nonsense word" created by Carroll. Despite its popularity and history, it still eludes a normal dictionary.

(VOR-pl) or, seldomly, (VOR-puhl)

-adjective

1) Infinitely sharp; possessing an edge (or tip) of zero thickness.

-adjective (slang)

2) Tending, or possessing a tendency, to decapitate. (slang)

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-= Usage and Etymology =-

In RPGs (role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons and the Final Fantasy series), "vorpal" is an adjective describing and referring to a bladed (slashing) weapon that has been magically enchanted in order to imbue it with an edge that is infinitely sharp (or, significantly rarer, a similarly-imbued pointed (stabbing) weapon with an infinitely sharp tip). The result of a vorpal enchantment, which is achieved foremost through the casting of a magic spell by a sufficiently powerful mage (a wizard or enchanter, for example), is the melding of the actual edge of the (almost always) metal blade with the addition of a new, extended edge, which is not only composed of a substance of a magical and nearly impervious nature, but, as the outer limit of the new magical edge is approached, decreases in thickness until the two sides meet at what is literally a mathematical lin...

1. An adj. meaning extremely sharp, usually so sharp as to cut through anything without any resistance whatsoever.

2. A specific enchantment upon a magical sword that, on a crit, severs the head of its victim automatically.

adj. Infinitly sharp. So sharp it cannot be measured.

The prefix for a creature in Ultima Online, known as the Vorpal Bunny, that is increadably fast and appears only when a green thorn is planted into dirt. Has colorful eggs and carrots, not much else.

synonym for deadly, but with stronger connotation.