'poignard' originates from French, specifically the word 'poignard', which is related to 'poigne' (grip) and ultimately from Latin 'pugnus' meaning 'fist'.

'poignard' developed in Old French from terms meaning 'something held in the fist' and became the Middle French 'poignard', later entering English with the form 'poignard' (often spelled the same) to mean a short dagger.

Initially it referred to an object associated with the hand or fist (literally 'something for the grip'), but over time it came to mean specifically a small stabbing weapon, the modern English sense of 'short dagger'.