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dirk

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dirk¹

  • /dɜːk/ UK
  • /dɝk/ US

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)k

Where it comes from

Etymology unknown, apparently from Scots dirk.

First attested in 1602 as dork, in the later 17th century as durk. The spelling dirk is due to Johnson's Dictionary of 1755.

Early quotations as well as Johnson 1755 suggest that the word is of Scottish Gaelic origin, but no such Gaelic word is known. The Gaelic name for the weapon is biodag. Gaelic duirc is merely an 18th-century adoption of the English word.

A possible derivation is from the North Germanic/Scandinavian personal name Dirk (short for Diederik), which is used of lock-picking tools (but not of knives or daggers). Alternatively a corruption of Low German Dulk, Dolk (“dagger”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *dalk, from Proto-Germanic *dulkaz, *dalkaz (“knife, dagger”), related to Saterland Frisian Dolk (“dagger”), West Frisian dolk (“dagger”), Dutch dolk (“dagger”), German Dolch (“dagger”).

noun dirks

  1. A long Scottish dagger with a straight blade. The Claymore is worn on the left side, the dirk on the right, and the Skean Dhu in the stocking […]
  2. A ceremonial dagger worn by naval or air force officers in some nations' militaries; formerly, a fighting dagger used by sailors as a boarding weapon. In half a minute he had reached the port scuppers, and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a short dirk, discolored to the hilt with blood.

verb dirks · dirking · dirked

  1. To stab with a dirk. Roland Graeme has dirked Adam Woodstock — that is all.” ¶ “Good Heaven!” said the Lady, turning pale as ashes, “is the man slain?”

dirk²

verb dirks · dirking · dirked

  1. obsolete To darken. Thy wast bignes but combers the grownd, / And dirks the beauty of my blossomes rownd.

dirk³

Where it comes from

Unlikely not to have come from the same murky origins as dork, despite sound variation among dick-dirk-dork. Influence from der seems plausibly intermixed.

noun dirks

  1. Midwestern US, dated, slang A penis. The word dick itself serves as model for two variants which are probably Midwestern, dirk and dork, also meaning "penis"...

    Similar: dork, anaconda, baloney pony, bald-headed hermit, banana, bird, birdie, bobby, boonga, cack, choad, choda

  2. Midwestern US, dated, slang A socially unacceptable person; an oddball. Near-synonym: dork

    Similar: dork

Dirk⁴

  • /dɜːk/ UK
  • /dɪək/ UK
  • /dɝk/ Canada, US

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)k, -ɪək

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Dutch and North German Dirk.

proper noun Dirks

  1. A male given name from German or Dutch, equivalent to English Derek.
  2. A surname transferred from the given name.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: snee, jan, dominique, rodi, andrey, derk, gilles, mathieu, pieter, dirke, dork, dagger, daggerblade, daggerman, sgian-dubh, dussack

Translations

Every language

noun a long Scottish dagger with a straight blade

Españoldaga, puñal
Françaisdirk
Русскийкинжа́л kinžál, дирк dirk

noun a ceremonial dagger worn by naval officers; formerly, a boarding weapon used by sailors

Русскийко́ртик kórtik

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{dirk_2026,
  title = {dirk},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dirk},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}