"D" Word Origins

daimyo

Chinese

From Japanese daimyō, literally "great name," ultimately from Chinese characters meaning "great" and "name."

dainty

Latin

From Old French deintié, going back to Latin dignitatem — the same root that gives us "dignity."

daiquiri

Origin · 1900

Named after Daiquirí, a beach and mining town on the south coast of Cuba, where the drink is said to have originated in the early 20th century.

dairy

Middle English

From Middle English deyerie, built from dey ("dairymaid") plus the suffix -ery, meaning roughly "the dairymaid's place."

dais

Latin

From Old French deis, ultimately from Latin discus ("disc" or "table"), itself from Greek diskos.

Daisuke

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese だいすけ (Daisuke).

daisy

Old English

From Old English dæges ēage, literally "day's eye," because the flower closes its petals at night and opens again at dawn.

dak

Origin

Borrowed from Hindustani डाक / ڈاک (ḍāk).

Dakar

Origin

Possibly from Wolof daqaar ("tamarind").

Dakin

Middle English

From a Middle English short form of David plus the suffix -kin.

Dakota

Origin

Borrowed from the Dakota people's own word dakhóta, meaning "friend" or "ally."

dal

Hindi

Borrowed from Hindi dal, referring to split pulses.

dalal

Arabic

From Arabic dallāl ("broker"), borrowed into Hindi and other South Asian languages.

dale

Old English

From Old English dæl, going back to a common Germanic root for "valley."

Dalek

Origin · 1963

Invented in 1963 by writer Terry Nation for Doctor Who; the exact inspiration is disputed, but it echoes the name of the Daleks' fictional predecessor race in the show.

Daley

Irish

From the Irish surname Ó Dálaigh.

dali

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin name Dàlì.

Dalia

Italian

Several etymologies: * Borrowed from Italian Dalia * Borrowed from Arabic دَالِيَة (dāliya), a surname mainly found in Egypt * Borrowed from Bengali ডালিয়া (ḍaliẏa)

Dallas

Origin

The Texas city was named after George M. Dallas, vice president under Polk; the family surname traces to a Scottish place name from Pictish, meaning roughly "meadow dwelling."

dalliance

Old French

From dally plus the suffix -ance, ultimately from Old French dalier ("to chat, to flirt").

dallier

Origin

From dally + -er.

dally

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman delaier, the same root that gives us "delay."

Dalmatian

Origin

Named after Dalmatia, the historical region on the Croatian coast where the dog breed is believed to have originated.

Dalrymple

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic dail ("field, meadow").

Dalton

Origin

Named after the English chemist John Dalton, a pioneer of atomic theory.

Daly

Irish

Anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Dálaigh, from dálach ("frequenting meetings").

dam

Old English

From Old English damm, a very old Germanic word for a barrier holding back water.

damage

Latin

From Old French damage, tracing back to Latin damnum ("loss" or "harm") — the same root behind "condemn" and "damn."

Damascus

Greek

From Greek Damaskos, itself from an ancient Semitic name for the city.

dambuster

Origin

From dam + buster.

dame

Latin

From Old French dame ("lady"), from Latin domina ("mistress of the house").

Damian

Ancient Greek

From the ancient Greek name Damianos, related to a verb meaning "to tame."

Damini

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit दामिनी (dāminī).

damme

Origin

A fused, old-fashioned spelling of "damn me."

dammit

Origin

A run-together form of "damn it", said quickly as one word.

damn

Latin

From Old French damner, from Latin damnare ("to condemn, to inflict loss upon").

damnable

Latin

From Old French dampnable, from Latin damnabilis, built on the same root as "damn."

damnation

Latin

From Old French dampnacion, from Latin damnatio, from the same root as "damn."

damnedest

Origin

Superlative form of "damned," built the same way "biggest" comes from "big" — damned plus the ending -est.

damning

Middle English

From Middle English dampnynge, formed from damn plus the -ing ending.

damnit

Origin

An informal, run-together spelling of "damn it."

Damocles

Latin

Borrowed from Latin Dāmoclēs.

Damon

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Δάμων (Dámōn), famous from the story of Damon and Pythias.

damp

Middle English

From Middle English dampen ("to suffocate, stifle"), related to German Dampf ("steam, vapor") — the sense of moisture came later.

dampen

Origin

From damp plus the verb-forming ending -en, on the same pattern as "sharpen" or "harden."

damper

Origin · 1825

From damp (the verb) plus -er, someone or something that "damps." The plain, yeast-free bread of the same name is a separate, later use of the word, first recorded around 1825.

damsel

Latin

From Old French damoisele, ultimately from Latin domina ("lady, mistress") — the same root that gave us "dame" and the French demoiselle.

dan

Latin

From Middle English "dan"/"daun", borrowed via Anglo-Norman from Latin dominus, "lord" — the same root that gives us "don".