sgian-dubh
Sign in to saveAlso known as sgian dubh, skene-dhu, skean-dhu
thumb|Staghorn thumb|A being worn on the leg The ' ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene-dhu' – is a small, single-edged knife () worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. It is now worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.
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7 sectionsContents
- Etymology and spelling
- Origins
- Construction
- Legality
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Staghorn thumb|A being worn on the leg The ' ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene-dhu' – is a small, single-edged knife () worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. It is now worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.
==Etymology and spelling== The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic , from sgian ('knife') and dubh ('black', also with the secondary meaning of 'hidden'.). Although sgian is feminine, so that a modern Gael might refer to a black knife as sgian dhubh, the term for the ceremonial knife is a set-phrase containing a historical form with blocked lenition. Other spellings are found in English, including skean-dhu and skene-dhu. The Gaelic plural, , is only rarely encountered in English.