dagger
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
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Etymology: From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”).
In English attested from the 1380s.
The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin.
Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective dācus. Chastelain (Dictionaire etymologique, 1750) thought that French dague was a derivation from German dagge, dagen, although not attested until a much later date).
The knightly dagger evolves from the 12th century. Guillaume le Breton (died 1226) uses daca in his Philippide. Other Middle Latin forms include daga, dagga, dagha, dagger, daggerius, daggerium, dagarium, dagarius, diga; the forms with -r- are late 14th century adoptions of the English word).
OED points out that there is also an English verb dag (“to stab”) from which this could be a derivation, but the verb is attested only from about 1400.
Relation to Old Armenian դակու (daku, “adze, axe”) has also been suggested. Alternatively, a connection from Proto-Indo-European *dʰāg-u- and cognate with Ancient Greek θήγω (thḗgō, “to sharpen, whet”).
Inflected forms:
form: daggers
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: daggers
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: daggering
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: daggered
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: daggered
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.
pos: noun
examples: The dagger, under the title cultellum and misericorde, has been the constant companion of the sword, at least from the days of Edward I. and is mentioned in the statute of Winchester.
gloss: The typographical mark †.
pos: noun
gloss: A point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead, so that they are likely to win.
pos: noun
examples: His last-minute 3-point dagger silenced the criticism for his so-called failure to come up big in big moments.
gloss: To pierce with a dagger; to stab.
pos: verb
gloss: To perform the daggering dance.
pos: verb
tags: Jamaica
Related words: poniard
rondel
stiletto
Derived words: at daggers drawn
bedaggered
bollock dagger
Bridport dagger
bull-dagger
cloak-and-dagger
dagger-axe
dagger board
daggerboard
daggerless
daggerlike
daggerman
dagger moth
dagger of lath
daggerpoint
daggerproof
dagger-sharp
daggertooth
double dagger
ear dagger
kidney dagger
Liaoning bronze dagger culture
look daggers
microdagger
mutton dagger
parrying dagger
punch dagger
push dagger
Quine dagger
Spanish dagger
speak daggers
stab yourself and pass the dagger
stare daggers
Swiss dagger
Translations: