Daggers usually differ from knives as daggers are mostly double-edge and are intended for stabbing and knives are intended for cutting with their single edge blades. It is possible though, to use knives for stubbing and daggers for cutting. Daggers evolved from prehistoric tools which were made from bone, flint of ivory and were used as weapons. The first daggers made of metal appeared in the Bronze Age and they were the first precursors to swords which evolved from long daggers.

Historically daggers were always used as secondary weapons. Warriors in most cultures used longer weapons such as spears, axes and swords as their primary weapons. The dagger was the weapon of last resort. In the Medieval Ages, daggers found their perfect use in stabbing knights through the openings in the plate armor. Being small and conspicuous, the dagger was the weapon of choice of assassins and murderers.

The dagger lost its usefulness when the firearms became more prevalent; however, the dagger evolved into a bayonet and once mounted on the top of the barrel of a musket or a rifle served as a stabbing weapon.