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bodkin

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bodkin¹

  • /ˈbɒdkɪn/

Where it comes from

From Middle English boydekin (“dagger”), apparently from *boyde, *boide (of unknown [Celtic?] origin) + -kin. Cognate with Scots botkin, boitkin, boikin (“bodkin”). Compare button, beat, bad, Old Norse váði.

noun bodkins · bodikin · bodkine · botkin · boidken

  1. A small sharp pointed tool for making holes in cloth or leather.
  2. A blunt needle used for threading ribbon or cord through a hem or casing. As with compulsory Sunday worship, death for blasphemy was for the third offence. A bodkin, a large blunt needle, was thrust through the tongue for the second offence.
  3. A hairpin. A rich, flushed colour—large black eyes—teeth that shone from their brilliant whiteness—a slender shape—and most minute feet, in such little shoes of Cordova leather—a silver chain round her neck, to which hung a medal of the Madonna—a dark-brown boddice and short skirt, relieved by a lacing of scar
  4. A dagger. When he himſelfe might his Quietus make / With a bare Bodkin?
  5. A type of long thin arrowhead.
  6. A sharp tool, like an awl, formerly used for pressing down individual type characters (e.g. letters) from a column or page in making corrections.

adverb bodikin · bodkine · botkin · boidken

  1. not comparable Closely wedged between two people. to sit bodkin

Bodkin²

Where it comes from

Ultimately from the Middle Dutch personal name Bodekin, a pet form of Baldwin.

proper noun Bodkins

  1. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Translations

Every language

noun pointed tool

Русскийши́ло šílo
العربيةمِخْرَز miḵraz

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MLA

"bodkin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bodkin. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bodkin. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bodkin

Chicago

"bodkin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bodkin.

BibTeX
@misc{bodkin_2026,
  title = {bodkin},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bodkin},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}