# What length does a dagger have to be, to become a sword? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902 "2001-05-09T20:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chubbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Chubbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chubbs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/1 "2001-05-09T20:01:49Z")
I’m starting a new hobby, sword collecting. Now I have seen daggers as long as 24 inches but in my book that is more like a sword. Or daggers are not classified by length? Help… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/2 "2001-05-09T20:21:11Z")
Well, a quick AskJeeves search found this quote from the Encyclopedia Brittanica… === short stabbing knife, ostensibly the diminutive of the sword, though in ancient and medieval times the distinction between a long dagger and a short sword was often obscure. From approximately 1300 the European dagger was consistently differentiated from the sword; in the 16th century a school of fencing developed in which a specially designed dagger with a large guard was held in the left hand and used for parrying. # Its convenient size made the dagger inconspicuous to wear and easy to draw, giving it advantages over the sword in many situations. The types include the wavy-bladed Malayan kris, the short, curved kukri used by the Gurkhas, the Hindu katar with its flat triangular blade, as well as innumerable others. So, I’d say that, rather than size, the differentiating characteristics of a dagger are: short, stabbing, works one-handed in the left hand, inconspicuous to conceal, and easy to draw. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/3 "2001-05-09T20:35:45Z")
I won’t bother with cites. I’m sure someone will pop in with them if you really need them. It’s a loose definition. In general a dagger is a short stabbing weapon, with two cutting edges. (A knife has one cutting edge). It is lighter and shorter than a sword, which is a double-edged cut and thrust weapon. Traditional daggers are more defensive than offensive, so they should be easily concealable, and only require one hand to wield. Since it’s subject to interpetation, there aren’t any hard and fast rules, but I’d guess the following would work pretty well: 1 cutting edge, one-hand, 1"-8" - knife, or small dagger 2 cutting edges, one-hand , 6"-12" - dagger 2 cutting edges, one or two hand, 12-24" - a really large dagger or short sword anything larger - a sword ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/4 "2001-05-09T21:56:34Z")
Well it depends. Namely it depends on what people called it. If they called some unreasonably small thing a sword, it is generally considered a sword. If they called it a knife or dagger, it is called a knife or dagger. Generally swords in once place and time are longer than knives/daggers in that same place and time, but even that isn’t a hard and fast rule. **evilhanz** has given a fairly good rough guide. All information is taken for The Compendium of Weapons, Armour & Castles by Matthew Balent. From the section on knives. (Matthew classifies daggers as knives). > [@](#): > > “…a knife consists of a short, pointed blade attached to a hilt or grip… In general, knives can range upwards of 50 centimeters in length, although longer examples do exist. The longer weapons begin to overlap with swords, so inevitable differences in classification exist.” From the section on swords. > [@](#): > > “…there is no set definition of the weapon that puts it apart form all others… the series of knife, sword, and glave is unbroken, and there is no point at which division that can always be made. Neither length of blade, type of hilt or method of use can define a sword.” Knifes (daggers) 50cm or longer 50cm Bhuj 50cm Bundi Katari 50cm Cinquedea 50cm Kindjal 50cm Kundi 50cm Kundi Tranchang 50cm Kukri 50cm Kummya 50cm Main Gauche 50cm Moplah 50cm Parazonium 55cm Haladie 60cm Pahua 60cm Panabas 60cm Parang Ginah 70cm Parang Latok Swords 50cm or shorter 40cm Ama-Goi-Ken 40cm Sica 50cm Bandelaire 50cm Baselard 50cm Bilbo 50cm Kamashimo Zashi 50cm Kapee Dha 50cm Ken 50cm Kris 50cm Opi All sizes are approximate. Any one type can vary greatly in size. The sizes listed here are generalizations and should be taken for a rough norm certainly Krises both much larger and smaller are known to exist. I hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/5 "2001-05-09T22:20:54Z")
A **dagger** is a thing that will get the living hell beat out of you by **two** cops for carrying it. :eek: A **sword** is the thing that has those two cops calling in the **SWAT Team** to beat the hell out of you/kill you. :eek: :eek: So, yeah…there are advantages to daggers. If you can call it that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/6 "2001-05-09T22:26:49Z")
A **dagger** is a thing that will get the living hell beat out of you by **two** cops for carrying it. :eek: A **sword** is the thing that has those two cops calling in the **SWAT Team** to beat the hell out of you/kill you. :eek: :eek: So, yeah…there are advantages to daggers. If you can call it that. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-length-does-a-dagger-have-to-be-to-become-a-sword/64902/7 "2001-05-10T04:34:48Z")
If you stab someone and it goes all the way through it’s a sword, otherwise it’s a dagger.