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A stiletto (plural stilettos) is a specialized dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a thrusting and stabbing weapon.Limburg, Peter R., What's In The Names Of Antique Weapons, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, , (1973), pp. 77-78 Secret Arms, The Saturday Review, London: Spottiswoode & Co., Vol. 77 No. 2,002 (10 March 1894), pp. 250-251
The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and tip (that is, a tip which tapers to a sharp point) reduce friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply.Atkins, Anthony G., The Science and Engineering of Cutting: The Mechanics and Processes of Separating, Scratching, and Puncturing Bio-Materials, Metals, and Non-Metals, London: Elsevier Ltd., (2009), p. 214 Some consider the stiletto a form of dagger, but most stilettos are specialized thrusting weapons not designed for cutting or slashing, even with edged examples.Cassidy, William L., The Complete Book Of Knife Fighting, , (1997), pp. 9-18, 27-36
Over time, the term stiletto has been used as a general descriptive term for a variety of knife blades exhibiting a narrow blade with minimal cutting surfaces and a needle-like point, such as the U.S. V-42 stiletto. In American English usage, the name stiletto can also refer to a switchblade knife with a stiletto- or bayonet-type blade design.Zinser, Tim, Fuller, Dan, and Punchard Neal, Switchblades of Italy, Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co., (2003), pp. 5, 8, 69, 85 The term may also describe any exaggeratedly thin and pointed feature, such as a stiletto heel.
The Italian word "stiletto" comes from the Latin stylus, the thin pointed Roman writing instrument used to engrave wax or clay tablets in ancient times. The stiletto began to gain fame during the late Middle Ages, when it was the secondary weapon of . Originally designed as a purely offensive weapon, the stiletto was used to finish off a fallen or severely wounded heavily armored opponent. The needle-like blade could, if used with sufficient force, penetrate most chainmail or find its way through gaps in a knight's plate armor, and was narrow enough to pass through the eye slits of the helmeted knight. A severely wounded opponent who was not expected to survive would be given a "mercy strike" (French coup de grâce), hence the name miséricorde. Later, the Gunner's Stiletto became a tool for clearing cannon-fuse touch holes and used in the same manner as an automotive oil dipstick, they were often inscribed with marks indicating levels of powder charges for ranging distance.
In Italy, the stiletto began to be employed along with the dagger as a fighting weapon; a 1536 dueling treatise authored by Achille Marozzo, Opera Nova, contains sections on dagger and stiletto fighting.Marozzo, Achille, Opera Nova Chiamato Duello (3rd ed.), Venetia, Italia (1568) By the time of the Renaissance, the term stiletto had come to describe a range of slender thrusting knives closely resembling the French poignard, many with conventional dagger-profile blades and sharpened edges, but always retaining the slim profile and needle-like point.Demmin, Auguste, An Illustrated History of Arms and Armour: The Dagger, Poniard, Stiletto, Kouttar, Crease, Etc., London: George Bell & Sons (1877), pp. 400-402 To lighten the weapon, many stilettos were equipped with blades carrying fullers over a portion of their length.
The stiletto remained a popular weapon of criminals or political assassins from the 16th through the end of the 19th century, particularly in France, Corsica, and Italy.Baring-Gould, Sabine, The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, London: Methuen & Co. (1897), pp. 223-224Cowen, William, Six Weeks In Corsica, London: Thomas C. Newby (1848), pp. 30-32 News of the Week, The Spectator, Volume 72, No. 3,444 (30 June 1894), p. 889Bell, J. Bowyer, Assassin: Theory and Practice of Political Violence, New Brunswick NJ: Transaction Publishers, , (2005), p. 37 While still used as a weapon of surprise and assassination, the use of stiletto in preference to the dagger in knife fight between adversaries became widespread throughout Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica. Letters from Italy: On the Nobility of the Genoese, The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, London: John Hinton, Vol. 58 (July 1776), pp. 43-45 The continued popularity of the stiletto in the Kingdom of Sicily resulted in the development of the scherma di stiletto siciliano (Sicilian school of stiletto fighting).Quattrocchi, Vito, The Sicilian Blade: The Art of Sicilian Stiletto Fighting, J. Flores Publications, , (1993) A person skilled in the use of a stiletto would thrust the knife deep into the victim, then twist the blade sharply in various directions before retracting it, causing the sharp point to inflict severe internal damage not readily apparent when examining the entrance wound.Lathrop, Walter M.D., American Medicine: Modern Treatment of Wounds, Vol. 7 No. 4, January 23, 1904, p. 151: The resident surgeon at the Pennsylvania State Hospital in Hazleton noted the severe internal wounds caused by a stiletto used by a trained operator.
The stiletto followed the first wave of Italian diaspora to the city of New Orleans, Louisiana during the mid-19th century, where the knife became a popular weapon of gamblers, gang members, and assorted assassins.Margavio, Anthony V. and Salomone, Jerome J., Bread and Respect: The Italians of Louisiana, Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co. Inc., (2002), p. 215 The stiletto was involved in so many stabbings and murders in New Orleans that the city passed an ordinance in 1879 outlawing the sale or exhibition for sale of any stiletto within the city limits.Jewell, Edwin L., The Laws and Ordinances of the City of New Orleans: Title 16, Police Regulations, publ. Edwin L. Jewell (1882), p. 326 Italian immigrants to America frequently purchased or made such knives for self-defense,Rood, Henry E., A Pennsylvania Colliery Village, The Century Magazine, Vol. 55 No. 6 (April 1898), p. 815 and the stiletto was used by anarchists as well as by members of various Black Hand organizations to assassinate Italian-Americans and others who either opposed the Black Hand or ignored its demands for blackmail.Watkins, John, The Big Stunts of Great Detectives: The Scrapbook, Vol. 4, No. 6, New York: Frank A. Munsey (December 1907), p. 1098 The Black Hand even established schools for training its members in the use of the stiletto.
These weapons were used to eliminate sentries in trench raids as well as for personal defense. As a class, these daggers, knives, and stilettos were given the title trench knife.Johnson, Thomas M., LTC (Ret.) & Wittmann, Thomas T.: Collecting the Edged Weapons of Imperial Germany, Vol. I, Privately published, 1988, p. 317.
As with the medieval stiletto, the stiletto switchblade was designed primarily as an offensive weapon, optimized for thrusting rather than cutting. The Italian style switchblade's peculiar properties combined a switchblade's easy concealment with the ability to make a surprise offensive thrust and a deep wound capable of reaching vital organs. In use, the knife would normally be concealed from view in the palm with the blade in the closed position. When the target is within range, the blade is quickly opened as part of a continuing underhand thrust into the target's torso.
The stiletto switchblade is still produced in Italy and many other countries, and now includes many derivative folding knife designs that incorporate the same basic 'stiletto' or bayonet-style blade profile, including spring-assist, non-locking, and lock blade variants.
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