Dolch

Meaning

dagger

Gender

♂️ Masculine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɔlç/

Etymology

Uncertain. First attested in the mid-15th century in Upper German texts as Dolch, then also Dollich, Tolch. At first mostly with weak declension (dem Dolchen). The formerly held assumption of a Slavic origin has been abandoned (older Czech tulich is instead a German borrowing).
The word is now mostly derived ultimately from Latin dolo (“pike, dagger”), but the origin of the velar remains unclear. It may be due to conflation with a descendant of Proto-West Germanic *dalk, *dolk (“pin, needle, clasp”), which is entirely unattested in Continental West Germanic, only being found in Old English dalc, dolc (“brooch, buckle, clasp”)). Another theory links it to Middle French dollequin (ca. 1400), from Old French dolequin, itself likely from Middle Dutch *dollekijn, a diminutive of Middle Dutch dolle (“dagger”, mid-14th c.), likely from the Latin. Compare early Dutch dolleken, dolck, dolch (modern Dutch dolk).