stiletto

Where does the word "stiletto" come from? It comes from Italian stiletto, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).

Stiletto’s story begins in Italian: stiletto meant “a small slender dagger.” A small dagger with a slender blade, a diminutive of stilo (a stylus, dagger). It reached English by 1600s as stiletto. Settled as the word for the narrow dagger, later applied to a thin high heel. Today, stiletto means a woman's shoe with a very high, thin heel, or a slender dagger.

1. Stage 1 · Italian · 1600s stiletto "a small slender dagger", a small dagger with a slender blade, a diminutive of stilo (a stylus, dagger).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1600s stiletto "a slender dagger, or a thin high heel", settled as the word for the narrow dagger, later applied to a thin high heel.