The ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene – is a small, single-edged knife () worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. Originally used for eating and preparing fruit, meat, and cutting bread and cheese, as well as serving for other more general day-to-day uses such as cutting material and protection, it is now worn as part of traditional Scottish dress tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand. Etymology and spelling The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic . Although the primary meaning of is "black", the secondary meaning of "hidden" is at the root of , based on the stories and theories surrounding the knife's origin, in particular those associated with the Highland custom of depositing weapons at the entrance to a house prior to entering as a guest. Compare also other Gaelic word-formations such as "underwater skerry" (lit. black skerry), "riddle" (lit. hidden word), "enigma" (lit. hidden question). Despite this practice, a small twin edged-dagger, (a mattucashlass), concealed under the armpit, combined with a smaller knife, (), concealed in the hose or boot, would offer an element of defence or of surprise if employed in attack. As is feminine, the form might be expected, since a feminine noun causes initial consonant lenition in a following adjective, and indeed the everyday modern Gaelic for a normal 'black knife' is . However, the term for the ceremonial knife is a set-phrase containing a fossilized historical form. In older Gaelic, a system of blocked lenition meant that lenition did not occur when the adjective started with a consonant of the same group as the final consonant of the noun, and n and d are both dental in Gaelic. Various alternative spellings are found in English, including "skene-dhu" and "skean-dhu". The Gaelic plural, , is only rarely encountered in English. The anglicised plural is most commonly sgian-dubhs (in its various spellings), though sgians-dubh is also occasionally encountered. Origins The may have evolved from the , a dagger that could be concealed under the armpit. Used by the Scots of the 17th and 18th centuries, this knife was slightly larger than the average modern and was carried in the upper sleeve or lining of the body of the jacket. Courtesy and etiquette would demand that