Degen.
rapier, smallsword
Meaning & usage
rapier, smallsword
épée
dagger
Where this word comes from
Since ca. 1400, at first as degen, but also dege, dägen, tägen. Usually derived from Middle French dague, but the origin of the e-vocalism is unclear. An eastern dialectal *degue is possible, but apparently unattested, whereas Czech dýka is considered a borrowing from German. See French dague and Italian daga for more. Probably also related with the family of English dagger. From the 17th century, the sense “dagger” is restricted to Dolch, while Degen comes to refer to longer weapons, especially thrust-oriented dueling swords. By the 18th century it was used of any sword worn as part of a uniform.
hero, warrior, soldier
Where this word comes from
From Middle High German dëgen, from Old High German dëgan. Cognate with Dutch degen, English thane, Icelandic þegn, Ancient Greek τέκνον (téknon). The word had become archaic by 1500, but was revived in poetic style since the later 18th century. This use may be a learned borrowing from Middle High German as there appear to be no attestations between ca. 1650 and 1750.
Try it on your idea.
Degen has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.