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Épée is French for "sword".
Épée is the only one of the three fencing weapons in which the entire body is considered a valid target area, and double-touches are allowed. That is, if both people hit each other within a few milliseconds of one another, then both get a point, regardless of who initiated the action. Only hits made with the tip of the weapon are scored.
Swashbuckler movies often portray swordfighting with swords that closely resemble fencing épées. This is generally historically inaccurate as the far more deadly rapier would have been the self-defense sword of choice in most of those time-periods.For additional information about the type of fencing sword called épée, see fencing.
European swords Fencing