Dolch

See also: dolch

German

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Middle High German tolch, from Old High German *tolh, from Proto-Germanic *dalkaz (“knife”). Kluge instead suggests a Slavic origin (Polish tulich (“dagger”), itself possibly from Latin dolo (“pike, prick”) and influenced by the Germanic root).[1][2]

First attested in the 15th century (dolch, tolch Cod. 44 A 8 1452; dollich), together with Degen (dagger) replacing Middle High German mezzer (Messer).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔlx/, [d̥ɔlx], [dɔlç]
Audio (file)

Noun

Dolch m (strong, genitive Dolches or Dolchs, plural Dolche)

dagger

Declension

Declension of Dolch [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Dolch	die	Dolche
genitive	eines	des	Dolches, Dolchs	der	Dolche
dative	einem	dem	Dolch, Dolche¹	den	Dolchen
accusative	einen	den	Dolch	die	Dolche

¹Now uncommon, see notes.

Hypernyms

Stichwaffe

Derived terms

erdolchen

Related terms

Dolchheft
Dolchklinge
Dolchspitze
Dolchstoss
Ehrendolch
Horndolch
Jadedolch
Jagddolch
Kampfdolch
Ritualdolch
Stahldolch
Zierdolch

References

Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 247
Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Dolch”, in , John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891