Etymology — The Origins of English Words

dirigible

Origin

From French dirigeable, from ballon dirigeable (“steerable balloon”).

dollymop

Origin

Dolly was a slang term for the penis.

dissemble

Origin

First attested in the beginning of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dissemblen, dissimblen, dissemelen, borrowed from Old French dessambler, dissembler, disembler, itself borrowed from Latin dissimulō and modified after sembler, semblance, etc. Doublet of dissimulate, dissimilate, and dissimule. Displaced native Old English mīþan.

discman

Origin

A trademark from disc + man, modelled on the earlier Walkman.

dree

Origin

Probably partly borrowed from Scots dree, and partly derived from its etymon Middle English dreen, dreghen, dreogen, drien, from Old English drēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *dreugan, from Proto-Germanic *dreuganą (“to act; to work, (specifically) to do military service”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to hold fast”). Doublet of dreich, dright, and drighten. Cognates * Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌽 (driugan, “to do military service”) * Icelandic drýgja (“to commit, connect, perpetrate, lengthen”) * Scots dree, drie (“to bear, endure, suffer, thole”)

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.

doldrums

Origin

From obsolete doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”) plus the plural suffix -s. Doldrum is possibly derived from dull or Middle English dold (past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make or become blunt or dull; to make or become dull-witted or stupid; to make or become inactive”), from dul, dol, dolle (“not sharp, blunt, dull; not quick-witted, stupid; lethargic, sluggish”); see further at dull), modelled after tantrum.

displode

Origin

From Latin displōdō, from dis- + plaudō.

dipa

Origin

From Hindi दीपा (dīpā), from Sanskrit दीपा (dīpā).

dovecote

Origin

From dove + cote.

doland

Origin

Variant of Dowland or Dolan.

dingbat

Origin

Unknown, US mid 19th century. The word-puzzle sense comes from the board game Dingbats, which is based on these puzzles. In the sense of a miscellaneous gadget, probably influenced by dingus or its etyma.

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.

dissimulation

Origin

Inherited from Middle English dissimulacioun, from Old French dissimulation, from Latin dissimulātiō; equivalent to dissimule + -ation.

dogface

Origin

From dog + face.

disenable

Origin

From dis- + enable.

dotage

Origin

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

digitalize

Origin

From digital + -ize (“to make”) or digitalis + -ize.

discontinuance

Origin

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French descontinuer.

diggety

Origin

Fanciful extension of another lexical item, possibly hot dog (interjection) or dig + -ety, an expressive suffix used to extend monosyllabic words. It is unclear whether this word or the whole phrase hot diggety dog came first. Compare African American Vernacular English dig. Attested since the end of the nineteenth century.

dogleg

Origin

The noun is derived from dog + leg, referring to the shape of the hind leg of a dog. The verb is derived from the noun.

divinator

Origin

From Latin dīvīnātor. See divination.

dilatory

Origin

From Middle English dilatorie, from Old French dilatoire, from Latin dīlātōrius (“extending or putting off (time)”), from dīlātor, from differō. Not etymologically related to delay.

drumbeater

Origin

From drum + beater.