細尖的刀與工具
這一族是這個字最早指的東西，也是那個尖尖畫面最原始的樣子。共同點是：真的有一根細細的尖端，而且那個尖端就是它做事的地方。
noun · C1
A small knife with a narrow, pointed blade. The blade is made for pushing in at a point rather than for cutting along an edge.
細刃短刀
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: a single thin, pointed spike. Everything stiletto names has that same outline — a blade as narrow as a long needle, a small tool that pushes a hole through leather, and a shoe heel that meets the floor at a point the size of a fingertip. The word is not telling you what the thing is for. It is telling you the shape.
可以想成「一根又細又尖的東西」。這個字底下的每樣東西，輪廓都長這樣：像長針一樣窄的刀刃、把皮革戳出洞的小尖錐，還有著…更多收起
可以想成「一根又細又尖的東西」。這個字底下的每樣東西，輪廓都長這樣：像長針一樣窄的刀刃、把皮革戳出洞的小尖錐，還有著地點只有指尖大的鞋跟。這個字不是在講用途，是在講形狀。所以同一個字可以同時走進博物館和鞋店，中間沒有矛盾。From the word’s history
The packet's source entry says stiletto was borrowed from Italian stiletto, and analyses it as Latin stilus (a pointed writing tool) plus the Italian ending -etto, which makes things small; it also notes stylet as a doublet. That reading fits the picture above: a small pointed thing.
證據裡的來源說 stiletto 借自義大利文 stiletto，並拆成拉丁文 stilus（尖頭的書寫筆）加上義大利文的小稱字尾 -etto，另外指出它和 stylet 同源。這條線索正好對上上面那個畫面：一個小小的、尖尖的東西。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract supplied in this packet, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1383574245:15061): "Borrowed from Italian stiletto. By surface analysis, Latin stilus + Italian -etto. Doublet of stylet."
Two branches
細得像釘子的鞋跟
鞋跟會被叫這個名字，是因為它和那把細刃長得像：又高又細，收在一個很小的點上。這是一個形狀上的比喻，不是說鞋跟是刀子變來的。
noun · B2
The tall, thin heel on such a shoe: the part that holds the back of the foot up and meets the ground at a tiny point.
細高鞋跟