bodkin

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• bodikin, bodkine, botkin, boidken

Etymology

From Middle English boydekin (“dagger”), apparently from *boyde, *boide (of unknown origin) +‎ -kin. Cognate with Scots botkin, boitkin, boikin (“bodkin”).

Noun

bodkin (plural bodkins)

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.
3. A hairpin.
4. A dagger.
   • 1603, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 3, sc. 1:

     For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

     The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

     The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

     The insolence of office and the spurns

     That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

     When he himself might his quietus make

     With a bare bodkin?

5. A type of arrowhead.