different between stiletto vs poniard

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian stiletto. Doublet of stylet.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /st??l?to?/, [st??l??o?]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /st??let??/

Noun

stiletto (plural stilettos or stilettoes or stiletti)

1. A small, slender knife or dagger-like weapon intended for stabbing.
2. A rapier.
3. An awl.
4. A woman's shoe with a tall, slender heel (called a stiletto heel).
5. A beard trimmed into a pointed form.
   • 1636, John Ford, The Fancies Chaste and Noble

     The very quack of fashions, the very he that / Wears a stiletto on his chin.

Translations

Adjective

stiletto (not comparable)

1. Sharp and narrow like a stiletto.

Derived terms

• stiletto heel

Verb

stiletto (third-person singular simple present stilettos, present participle stilettoing, simple past and past participle stilettoed)

1. (transitive) To attack or kill with a stiletto (dagger).
   • 1834, Henry Tudor, Narrative of a Tour in North America

     The recollection of former atrocities by the populace in plundering the city and stilettoing the inhabitants, is sufficiently fresh in the remembrance of the government to serve as an additional stimulus to prevent similar disorders.

Dutch

Etymology

From Italian stiletto

Pronunciation

Noun

stiletto f (plural ?, diminutive stilettoke n)

1. stiletto

Synonyms

• hoge hakken (both for shoe and heel itself)

Italian

Etymology

stilo (“needle, stylus”) +? -etto

Noun

stiletto m (plural stiletti)

1. (weaponry) stiletto, dagger

Derived terms

• stilettata

Verb

stiletto

1. first-person singular present indicative of stilettare

Spanish

Etymology

From Italian stiletto.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esti?leto/, [es.t?i?le.t?o]

Noun

stiletto m (plural stilettos)

1. stiletto

English

Alternative forms

• poignard, poinard, poynard, punierd

Etymology

Borrowed from French poignard, from poing (“fist”), from Old French, from Latin p?gnus (“fist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pew?-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?nj?d/, /?p?nj??d/

Noun

poniard (plural poniards)

1. (now chiefly historical) A dagger typically having a slender square or triangular blade. [from 16th c.]
   • c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, V.1:

     The sir King ha's wag'd with him six Barbary horses, / against the which he impon'd as I take it, sixe French / Rapiers and Poniards, with their assignes, as Girdle, / Hangers or so […].

   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol. IV, ch. 101:

     One of the tragic authors, finding himself assaulted in the dark, had, by way of poinard, employed upon his adversary's throat a knife which lay upon the table, for the convenience of cutting cheese […] .

   • 1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner:

     On this occasion I said nothing, but concealing his poniard in my clothes, I hasted up the mountain, determined to execute my purpose […].

Translations

Verb

poniard (third-person singular simple present poniards, present participle poniarding, simple past and past participle poniarded)

1. To stab with a poniard.
   • 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, I:

     Manfred […] would have poignarded the peasant in their arms.

Related terms

• impugn
• pugilism
• pugnacious
• repugn (repugnant)

References

• “poniard”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “poniard” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "poniard" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• padroni, pandori, paridon, poinard