Etymology

cloak-and-dagger

Today it means: Marked by menacing furtive secrecy, often with a melodramatic tint or espionage involved. Full definition →

French de cape et d'épée
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. French · calque ofde cape et d'épée“of the cloak and the sword”
  2. English todaycloak-and-dagger

Calque of French de cape et d'épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. The French term referred to a genre of drama in which the main characters wore cloaks and had swords. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the “cloak and sword” term in 1840, whereas Charles Dickens preferred “cloak and dagger” a year later.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.