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{{Short description|Slender knife}}{{for multi|the shoe design|Stiletto heel|other uses}}(File:Gunners stiletto 01.jpg|thumb|Stiletto)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, {{ISBN|0-698-20233-3}}, {{ISBN|9780698202337}} (1973), pp. 77-78Secret Arms, The Saturday Review, London: Spottiswoode & Co., Vol. 77 No. 2,002 (10 March 1894), pp. 250-251The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and (wikt:acuminated|acuminated) 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., {{ISBN|978-0-7506-8531-3}} (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, {{ISBN|0-87364-029-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-87364-029-9}} (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., {{ISBN|1-56311-933-1}} (2003), pp. 5, 8, 69, 85 The term may also describe any exaggeratedly thin and pointed feature, such as a stiletto heel.

Origins

First developed in Italy, the stiletto dates from the late 15th century, and is thought to be a development of the rondel dagger or misericordia, a needle-pointed weapon with a narrow blade designed primarily for thrusting, though possessing cutting edges.Peterson, Harold, Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World, Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-41743-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-486-41743-1}} (2002), pp. 16-26Ford, Roger, et al., Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor, London: DK Publishing Inc., {{ISBN|0-7566-2210-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7566-2210-7}} (2006), pp. 69, 131: In the late 1400s new blade shapes were introduced to the rondel dagger, an equilateral triangular cross-section, followed by the appearance of narrow square (cruciform) blades foreshadowing the emergence of the stiletto. Early stilettos normally used a one-piece cast-metal handle which was shaped and turned on a lathe. The stiletto blade was usually hammer-forged into a dense rod with a narrow, triangular cross-section, without any sharpened edges. However, other examples of the period have emerged bearing round, square, or diamond cross-sections.The Italian word "stiletto" comes from the Latin stilus, the thin pointed Roman writing instrument used to engrave wax or clay tablets in ancient times.WEB,weblink Latin Wordlist and Grammar Aid | stiletto, Nelson, Lynn, archives.nd.edu, University of Notre Dame, 6 September 2020, {{Failed verification |reason=Claim unsubstantiated by source given; origin / history of words not provided. |date=September 2020}} The stiletto began to gain fame during the late Middle Ages, when it was the secondary weapon of knights.BOOK, Bradbury, Jim, The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare (Hardcover), Routledge, 392, 2004, 978-0-415-22126-9, 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 mail 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.BOOK, Henry, Chris, English Civil War Artillery 1642–51, Osprey Publishing, 2005, 48, 978-1-84176-766-6,

Use as offensive weapon

(File:16th century stiletto.JPG|thumb|right|A 16th century stiletto)The stiletto was later adopted throughout Italy as the favored offensive thrusting knife (arma manesca) of the medieval assassin,