different between obelus vs dagger

English

Etymology

From Middle English obelus, obelo, from Old English obelus, from Late Latin obelus (“critical mark”), from Koine Greek ?????? (obelós, “critical mark”), Ancient Greek ?????? (obelós, “rod, spit; obelisk; critical mark”). The further etymology is uncertain; a derivation from ????? (bélos, “arrow, dart, missile”) (from Proto-Indo-European *g?elH- (“to pierce; to reach; to throw; to hit by throwing”)) has been suggested, but the initial vowel remains unexplained. The English word is a doublet of obelisk.

The plural form obeli is derived from Late Latin obeli, from Ancient Greek ?????? (obeloí).

Pronunciation

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?l?s/, /??bl?s/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??b?l?s/
• Plural (obeli):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?la?/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??b??la?/
• Hyphenation: obe?lus

Noun

obelus (plural obeluses or obeli) (typography)

1. (historical) A symbol resembling a horizontal line (–), sometimes together with one or two dots (for example, ? or ÷), which was used in ancient manuscripts and texts to mark a word or passage as doubtful or spurious, or redundant; an obelisk.
2. A dagger symbol (†), which is used in printed matter as a reference mark to refer the reader to a footnote, marginal note, etc.; beside a person's name to indicate that the person is deceased; or beside a date to indicate that it is a person's death date; an obelisk.

Usage notes

• Obelus was used in Middle English, but thereafter was displaced by obelisk until the 19th century when both words began to be used with equal regularity.
• An obelus with two dots above and below the line (÷) is now often used in mathematical equations to represent division.

Derived terms

• double obelus (rare)
• obelic
• obelised, obelized (adjective)

Related terms

• obelisk
• obelism (obsolete, rare)
• obelise, obelize

Translations

See also

• double dagger

References

Further reading

• obelus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Belous, Lobues, besoul, blouse, boules

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English daggere, 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 daggardr, 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 d?cus. 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 ????? (daku, “adze, axe”) has also been suggested. Alternatively, a connection from Proto-Indo-European *d??g-u- and cognate with Ancient Greek ???? (th?g?, “to sharpen, whet”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?dæ??(?)/
• Rhymes: -æ??(r)

Noun

dagger (plural daggers)

2. (weaponry) A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.
4. (typography) The text character †; the obelus.
5. (basketball, American football) 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.

Synonyms

• (stabbing weapon): dirk, knife
• (text character): obelisk, obelus
• (anything that causes pain like a dagger) barb

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• poniard
• rondel
• stiletto

Verb

dagger (third-person singular simple present daggers, present participle daggering, simple past and past participle daggered)

1. To pierce with a dagger; to stab.

Etymology 2

Perhaps from diagonal.

Noun

dagger (plural daggers)

1. A timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

References

Anagrams

• dragge, ragged