dagger
pronunciation
How to pronounce dagger in British English:
UK [ˈdæɡə(r)]
How to pronounce dagger in American English:
US [ˈdæɡər]
-
- Noun:
- a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing
- a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote
Word Origin
- dagger
- dagger: [14] Dagger has an uncertain history. There was a verb dag in Middle English, meaning ‘stab’, which suggests that dagger may simply be ‘something that stabs’, but similarity of form and sense indicates a connection too with Old French dague ‘dagger’. This appears to have come via Old Provençal or Old Italian daga from a hypothetical Vulgar Latin *daca, which meant literally ‘Dacian knife’ (from Latin Dācus ‘Dacian’). Dacia was the ancient name for an area roughly corresponding to modern Romania.
- dagger (n.)
- late 14c., apparently from Old French dague "dagger," from Old Provençal dague or Italian daga, which is of uncertain origin; perhaps Celtic, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian knife," from the Roman province in modern Romania. The ending is possibly the faintly pejorative -ard suffix. Attested earlier (1279) as a surname (Dagard, presumably "one who carried a dagger"). Also compare dogwood. Middle Dutch dagge, Danish daggert, German Degen also are from French.
Example
- 1. A dagger hilt found in the staffordshire hoard
- 2. He grabbed a small seat cushion from an old chair and threw it at the dagger .
- 3. Operation khanjar - pashto for " dagger " - is the first test of the obama administration 's new strategy for afghanistan .
- 4. Apart from an interesting-looking carved dagger , the box was full of crockery , much of it broken .
- 5. Later as superman tries to save the world from luthor the villain plunges a kryptonite dagger into his side .