"D" Word Origins

Dorcas

Greek

From the biblical figure Dorcas (Tabitha), whose Greek name meant "gazelle" and who was known for making clothes for the poor.

Dorchester

Latin

From Celtic *Durno-wāriā (Latin Durnovāria) + Old English ċeaster ("fort, Roman town").

Doreen

Origin

From Dora + -een.

Doren

German

Borrowed from German Dören.

Dorian

Ancient Greek

From the Latin root of Dores, from Ancient Greek Dōrieús ("of Doris"), the mythical homeland of the Dorians.

Dorinda

Origin · 1700

An 18th-century coinage from Dora or Dorothy, + -inda.

Doris

Ancient Greek

From the Ancient Greek name Doris, a sea-nymph in mythology; the slang sense for "woman" grew out of the name's long popularity in Britain.

dork

Origin · 1961

American slang from around 1961; likely started as a softened, joking stand-in for a cruder word, later settling into its modern meaning of "lovable nerd."

dorky

Origin

"Dork" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

dormant

Latin

From Old French, ultimately from Latin dormire, "to sleep."

dormition

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French dormition, from Latin dormītiōnem.

dormitive

Origin

From French dormitif, from the verb dormir (“to sleep”)

dormitory

Latin

From Latin dormitorium, "a sleeping room," from dormire, "to sleep."

Dorothea

Ancient Greek

A Latinate variant of Dorothy, ultimately from Ancient Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), from δῶρον (dôron, "gift") + θεά (theá, "goddess").

Dorothy

Ancient Greek

A learned borrowing from Ancient Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), from δῶρον (dôron, "gift") + θεά (theá, "goddess").

dorris

Origin

Variant of Doris.

dorsal

Medieval Latin

From Late Middle English dorsal, borrowed from Medieval Latin dorsalis ("of the back"), from dorsum ("the back").

Dorset

Old English

From the county town of Dorchester, via Old English Dornsǣte, Dorsǣte, reduced from Durnovaria + -sǣte ("people, dwellers").

Dorsey

Origin

A habitational surname from Norman de ("of") + Orsay, a town in France.

dorsum

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin dorsum (“the back”).

dorter

Origin

From Middle English dortour, from Old French dortoir, dortour (modern dortoir), from Latin dormitorium (“dormitory”). Doublet of dormitorium and dormitory.

dory

Origin · 1709

Recorded in American English from 1709, possibly borrowed from an indigenous Central American or Caribbean language.

DoS

Origin

An abbreviation of "denial of service."

dosa

Origin

From Kannada dose.

dosage

French

From French dosage, related to "dose."

dose

Latin

From Greek dosis, "a giving," via Latin and French — related to the verb "to give."

dosh

Origin

Origin unclear; possibly a blend of "dough" and "cash," both existing slang terms for money.

doss

Latin

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to Latin dorsum, "the back" — as in what you lie on to sleep.

dosser

Origin

From doss + -er.

dossier

French

Borrowed directly from French dossier.

Dost

German

Borrowed from German Dost ("wild thyme").

Dostoevsky

Russian

Transliterated from Russian Достоевский (Dostoyevsky).

Dostoyevsky

Russian

Transliterated from Russian Достоевский (Dostoyevsky).

Dot

Middle English

From Middle English *dot, dotte, from Old English dott (“a dot, point”), from Proto-West Germanic *dott, from Proto-Germanic *duttaz (“wisp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte (“a clump”), Dutch dot (“lump, knot, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”), dialectal Swedish dott (“a little heap, bunch, clump”).

dotage

Origin

From Middle English dotage, from doten (“to dote”) + -age; equivalent to dote + -age.

dote

Middle English

From Middle English doten, "to be foolish," related to Middle Dutch and Low German words meaning much the same.

doting

Origin

From the verb "dote" plus "-ing."

dotted

Origin

From "dot" plus the past-participle ending "-ed."

dotterel

Origin

15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.

Dottie

Origin

From Dot + -ie.

dottle

Origin

From Middle English dottel, dottelle (“a plug or tap of a vessel”), a diminutive of Old English dott (> English dot (“a point”)), equivalent to dot + -le. Related to Old English dyttan (“to stop up, clot”), Dutch dot (“a knot, lump, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”). More at dit.

dotty

Origin

Related to "dote" (in its "senile" sense); compare "totty," meaning unsteady or dizzy.

double

Latin

From Old French doble, ultimately from Latin duplus, "twofold."

doublehearted

Origin

From double + hearted.

doublespeak

Origin

From double + -speak. Coined in the 1950s in the vein of George Orwell's Newspeak as used in his book Nineteen Eighty-Four. The word doublespeak does not appear in the book, although newspeak, oldspeak, and doublethink do.

doublet

Origin

From Middle English doublet, a borrowing from Old French doublet, from double, duble, doble + -et. Equivalent to double + -et (diminutive suffix)

doubly

Middle English

From Middle English, formed from "double" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

doubt

Latin

From Old French douter, ultimately from Latin dubitare, "to be uncertain, to waver." The silent "b" was added later by scholars trying to match the Latin spelling.