The stiletto is a dagger with a long, slender blade and a needle-like point, designed primarily for thrusting and stabbing rather than cutting. It first appeared in Italy in the late fifteenth century, likely descended from the rondel dagger or the misericorde, and gained prominence in the late Middle Ages as a knight's secondary weapon before becoming favored by assassins and criminals across Italy, Corsica and France into the nineteenth century. Its narrow, often triangular cross section and sharpened point reduce friction on entry, letting the blade penetrate deeply even though early versions typically lacked cutting edges. Because it was silent, easy to conceal and capable of inflicting deep wounds with little external bleeding, the stiletto became particularly notorious as an assassin's weapon. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Weapon Class Introduced Year Classification
Service Status Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category)Sword / Polearm / Bladed 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Stiletto
Lead section, sentence 1
specialized dagger
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Weapon class (sword-polearm-blade) is a pre-industrial/melee weapon type by its own nature per the entity's own sourced description text; not carried in current active military service.
View the Source2. Wikidata: Stiletto
Wikidata Q1139500, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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