"D" Word Origins

dock

Old English

From Old English docce (the plant name); the harbour and courtroom senses developed later in Middle English from related Germanic words for a low or muddy place.

dockage

Origin

From dock + -age.

docker

Origin

From dock (the harbour sense) + the agent suffix -er.

docket

Origin

Origin uncertain — likely a diminutive related to "dock" in the sense of a brief written label or summary.

dockhand

Origin

From dock + hand.

docking

Origin

From dock + -ing.

doctor

Latin

From Latin doctor, "teacher," from docere, "to teach."

doctoral

Origin

From doctor + -al.

doctorate

Latin

From Latin doctoratus.

doctrinaire

Origin

Borrowed from French doctrinaire, from doctrine + -aire.

doctrinal

Origin

The noun form was from French doctrinal; the adjective form was perhaps from Late Latin doctrīnālis, from doctrīna.

doctrine

Latin

From Latin doctrina, "teaching," from docere, "to teach" — the same root as "doctor."

document

Latin

From Latin documentum, "lesson" or "proof," from docere, "to teach."

documentary

French

From French documentaire, from document.

documentation

Origin

From document + -ation.

documents

Latin

From Latin documentum 'lesson, proof', from docere 'to teach'.

DOCX

English

From doc, short for document, plus x for XML, the text-based system used to store the file's contents.

dod

Irish

The "sulk" sense comes from Irish dod ("sullenness, anger"); the "to clip" sense is a separate, older English dialect verb.

Dodd

Old English

Origin uncertain; possibly related to an Old English personal name or a Proto-Germanic root meaning "rounded."

dodder

Origin

From Middle English daderen (“to quake, tremble”). Compare Norwegian dudra (“to tremble”).

doddle

Origin

Uncertain. Possibly from dialectal English doddle (“to toddle, to sway, to nod drowsily”).

Dodds

Middle English

From Dodd + -s (“patronymic suffix”). From Middle English Dodd.

dodge

Origin

Likely from an English dialect verb meaning "to jerk or move suddenly," of uncertain deeper origin.

dodgeball

Origin

From dodge + ball.

dodger

Origin

From dodge + -er.

dodgson

Origin

From Dodge + -son, from the given name Roger.

dodgy

Origin · 1800

From dodge + -y, first recorded in mid-19th-century England.

dodo

Dutch · 1600

Origin uncertain, possibly from an old Portuguese word for "fool" or from Dutch dodaars; first recorded in the 1600s.

dods

Origin

From Dodd + -s (“patronymic suffix”). From Middle English Dodd.

Dodson

Origin

From Dodge + -son and from Dodd + -son.

doe

Old English

From Old English dā, "female deer" — an ancient Germanic word related to a root meaning "to suckle."

doer

Old English

From Old English dōere, simply "do" plus the agent suffix "-er."

doey

Origin

From doe + -y.

doff

Origin

PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.

dog

Old English

From Old English docga, a word of uncertain origin that eventually replaced "hound" as the general term for the animal.

dogback

Origin

From dog + back, modelled on horseback.

doge

Latin

From Venetian doxe, from Latin dux, "leader" — the same root that gives us "duke" and "duce."

dogface

Origin

From dog + face.

dogfight

Origin

From "dog" + "fight," likening the frantic, snapping maneuvers to two dogs fighting.

Dogg

Origin

Alternative spelling of dog.

dogged

Origin

From "dog" plus "-ed" — originally meaning having qualities like a dog's tenacity.

dogger

Origin

From Dutch, from dogger (“codfish”).

doggerel

Origin

Probably from dog + -rel (“pejorative suffix”), akin to Dog Latin, late 14th c.

doggo

Origin

The noun is from dog + -o (colloquializing suffix), perhaps after the adverb. The adverb is probably of the same origin.

doggone

Origin

A softened, minced version of "goddamn."

doggy

Origin

From "dog" plus the diminutive suffix "-y," in the same pattern as "kitty" or "puppy."

doghole

Origin

From Middle English doghole. By surface analysis, dog + hole.

doghouse

Origin

A straightforward compound of "dog" and "house."