Word
dagger
Phoneticsdag·ger
US/ˈdæɡɝ/
UK/dˈæɡɐ/
Definitions
01a weapon
n. a short knife with a sharp point used for stabbing.
n. a short-bladed stabbing weapon, typically double-edged and tapering to a sharp point.
“The museum displayed an ancient dagger made of bronze and gold.”
“The assassin concealed a small, ornate dagger beneath his cloak, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”
02printing symbol
n. the symbol † used in books to show a note or a date of death.
n. a typographical mark (†) used as a reference to a footnote or to indicate a person's death.
“Look for the dagger symbol next to the name for more information.”
“The editor used a dagger to mark the footnote, as the asterisk had already been employed for a previous citation on the same page.”
Technical
Usage
The symbol is often called an obelisk in formal printing contexts.
Synonyms
03decisive sports play
n. a shot or goal late in a game that makes it almost impossible for the other team to win.
n. a decisive score or play made near the end of a competition that effectively secures victory for one side.
“His three-pointer at the last second was the dagger that ended the game.”
“The striker's second goal in the eighty-ninth minute was the absolute dagger, extinguishing any hope of a comeback for the visiting team.”
Informal · American English
Synonyms
04to stab
v. to stab someone or something with a dagger.
v. to pierce or wound with a short-bladed weapon.
“The villain tried to dagger the hero during the final fight.”
“In the final act of the tragedy, the protagonist is daggered by his own trusted advisor in a shocking betrayal.”
Literary
Real-World Examples
“Princess Ita's coffin also held an especially ornate dagger.” 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”).
Perhaps from diagonal.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.