A- (3) prefix meaning "not," from Gk a-, an- "not," from pie base *ne "not" (see un-)

dog leg --- bent like a dog's hind leg, 1703. Originally of a type of staircase.

doge --- chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa, 1549, from Venetian dial. doge, from L. ducem, acc. of dux "leader" (see duke).

dogfight --- aerial combat, World War I air forces slang, from earlier meaning "riotous brawl" (1880s); from dog (n.) + fight.

dogger --- two-masted fishing boat, used in North Sea fishery, 1356, of unknown origin. It is the source of the name Dogger Bank (1666) for the great banks of shoals in the North Sea.

doggerel --- 1277 (as a surname, 1249), the root word probably from dog, applied to bad poetry perhaps with a suggestion of puppyish clumsiness, or being only fit for dogs.

doggone --- 1851, Amer.Eng., a "fantastic perversion of god-damned" [Weekley]. But Mencken favors the theory that it is "a blend form of dog on it; in fact it is still often used with it following. It is thus a brother to the old English phrase, 'a pox upon it,' but is considerably more decorous."

doghouse --- 1611, from dog (n.) + house. Originally a kennel; the backyard type, for a single animal, is late 19c. Figurative sense of "disgrace" is from 1932.

dogie --- motherless calf in a herd, 1888, cowboy slang.

dogma --- 1541 (implied in dogmatist), from L. dogma "philosophical tenet," from Gk. dogma (gen. dogmatos) "opinion, tenet," lit. "that which one thinks is true," from dokein "to seem good, think" (see decent). Treated in 17c.-18c. as Gk., with pl. dogmata.

do-gooder --- a person who seeks to correct social ills in an idealistic, but usually impractical or superficial, way, 1654 (as do-good), in "Zootomia, or Observations on the Present Manners of the English: Briefly Anatomizing the Living by the Dead. With An Usefull Detection of the Mountebanks of Both Sexes," written by Richard Whitlock, a medical doctor. Probably used even then with a taint of impractical idealism. Modern pejorative use seems to have begun on the socialist left, mocking those who were unwilling to take a hard line. OED has this citation, from "The Nation" in 1923: "There is nothing the matter with the United States except ... the parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods." The form do-gooder appears in Amer.Eng. from 1927, presumably because do-good was no longer felt as sufficiently noun-like. A slightly older word for this was goo-goo.

doily --- 1714, short for doily-napkin (1711), from doily "thin, woolen fabric," from Doiley, surname of a 17c.-early 18c. dry-goods dealer on London's Strand. Doily earlier meant "cheap but classy woollens" (1678), evidently from the same source.

dojo --- hall in which judo is practiced, 1942, from Japanese.

dolce far niente --- 1814, from It., lit. "sweet doing nothing." The L. roots are dulcis "sweet" (see dulcet), facere "to make, do," and nec entem, lit. "not a being."

doldrums --- 1811, from dulled, pp. of dullen, from O.E. dol "foolish, dull," ending perhaps patterned on tantrum.

dole --- O.E. dal "sharing, giving out," shortened from gedal "portion," related to dæl "deal," from P.Gmc. *dailiz. Meaning of "charitable portion" (1362) led to verb "hand out charity" (1465). On the dole is 1920s.

doleful --- c.1275, from O.Fr. doel, from L.L. dolus "grief," from L. dolere "suffer, grieve."

doll --- 1560, endearing name for a female pet or a mistress; originally a familiar form of fem. proper name Dorothy (q.v.). The -l- for -r- substitution in nicknames is common in Eng.: cf. Hal for Harold, Moll for Molly, Sally for Sarah, etc. Attested from 1648 as colloquial for "slattern;" sense of "child's toy baby" is c.1700. Transferred back to living beings 1778 in sense of "pretty, silly woman" dolled up is Amer.Eng. 1906. Doll's house first recorded 1783.

dollar --- 1553, from Low Ger. daler, from Ger. taler (1540, later thaler), abbrev. of Joachimstaler, lit. "(gulden) of Joachimstal," coin minted 1519 from silver from mine opened 1516 near Joachimstal, town in Erzgebirge Mountains in northwest Bohemia. Ger. Tal is cognate with Eng. dale. Ger. thaler was a large silver coin of varying value in the Ger. states (and a unit of the Ger. monetary union of 1857-73 equal to three marks); it was also a currency unit in Denmark and Sweden. Eng. colonists in America used the word in ref. to Spanish pieces of eight. Continental Congress July 6, 1785, adopted dollar when it set up U.S. currency, on suggestion of Gouverneur Morris and Thomas Jefferson, because the term was widely known but not British. But none were actually used until 1794. The dollar sign ($) is said to derive from the image of the Pillars of Hercules, stamped with a scroll, on the Spanish piece of eight. Phrase dollars to doughnuts attested from 1890; dollar diplomacy is from 1910.

dollop --- 1573, from E. Anglian dial. dallop "patch, tuft or clump of grass," of uncertain origin. Modern sense of "a lump or glob" is 1812.

dolly --- 1610, Dolly, a fem. nickname (see doll); 1790 as "child's doll;" applied from 1792 to any contrivance fancied to resemble a dolly in some sense, esp. a small platform on rollers (1901).

dolmen --- 1859, from Fr. dolmin applied 1796 by Fr. archaeologist Latour d'Auvergne, perhaps from Cornish tolmen "enormous stone slab set up on supporting points," such that a man may walk under it, lit. "hole of stone," from Celt. men "stone." Some suggest the first element may be Bret. taol "table," a loan-word from L. tabula "board, plank," but the Bret. form of this compound would be taolvean. "There is reason to think that this [tolmen] is the word inexactly reproduced by Latour d'Auvergne as dolmin, and misapplied by him and succeeding Fr. archaeologists to the cromlech" [OED]. See cromlech, which is properly an upright flat stone, often arranged as one of a circle.

dolomite --- 1794, named for Fr. geologist Déodat De Gratet De Dolomieu (1750-1801) who described the rock in his study of the Alps (1791).

Dolores --- fem. proper name, from Sp. Maria de los Dolores, lit. "Mary of the Sorrows," from pl. of dolor, from L. dolor "pain, sorrow."

dolorous --- c.1400, "causing pain," from O.Fr. doloros, from L.L. dolorosus, from L. dolor "pain, grief." Sense of "causing grief" is from c.1450; that of "full of sorrow" is from 1513.

dolphin --- c.1350, from O.Fr. daulphin, from M.L. dolfinus, from L. delphinus "dolphin," from Gk. delphis (gen. delphinos) "dolphin," related to delphys "womb," probably via notion of the animal bearing live young. Popularly applied to the dorado from late 16c.

dolt --- 1543, perhaps a variant of dold "dull, foolish," influenced by dulte, dolte, pp. forms of M.E. dullen "to dull, make or become dazed or stupid" (see dull).

Dom Pérignon --- trademark name, 1954 (in use from 1936), from monk of that name (1638-1715), blind cellarmaster of the monastery of Hautvilliers near Epernay, France, who was said to have discovered the advantage of corked bottles in fermentation. Dom was a title of authority, from L. dominus "lord, master" (see domain).

domain --- c.1425, in Scottish dialect, from M.Fr. domaine, from O.Fr. demaine "lord's estate," from L. dominium "property, dominion," from dominus "lord, master, owner," from domus "house" (see domestic). Form infl. in O.Fr. by M.L. domanium "domain, estate."

dome --- round, vaulted roof, 1656, from Fr. dome, from Prov. doma, from Gk. doma "house, housetop" (especially a style of roof from the east), related to domos "house" (see domestic). In the Middle Ages, Ger. dom and It. duomo were used for "cathedral" (on the notion of "God's house"), so Eng. began to use this word in the sense "cupola," an architectural feature characteristic of It. cathedrals. Used in U.S. also with ref. to round summits of mountains.

Domesday book --- 1178, popular name of Great Inquisition or Survey (1086), William the Conqueror's inventory of his new domain, from M.E. domes, gen. of dom "day of judgment" (see doom). "The booke ... to be called Domesday, bicause (as Mathew Parise saith) it spared no man, but iudged all men indifferently." [Lambarde]

domestic (adj.) --- 1521, from M.Fr. domestique, from L. domesticus "belonging to the household," from domus "house," from PIE *domo-/*domu- "house, household" (cf. Skt. damah "house;" Avestan demana- "house;" Gk. domos "house," despotes "master, lord;" L. dominus "master of a household;" O.C.S. domu, Rus. dom "house;" Lith. dimstis "enclosed court, property;" O.E. timber "building, structure"), from *dem-/*dom- "build." The usual IE word for "house" (It., Sp. casa are from L. casa "cottage, hut;" Gmc. *hus is of obscure origin). The noun is 1539; domesticate is from 1639. Domestics, originally "articles of home manufacture," is attested from 1622.

domicile --- 1442, from M.Fr. domicile (14c.), from L. domicilium, probably from domus "house" (see domestic) + colere "to dwell" (see colony). As a verb, it is first attested 1809.

domination --- c.1386, from O.Fr. domination, from L. dominationem (nom. dominatio), from dominari "to rule, have dominion over," from dominus "lord, master," lit. "master of the house," from domus "home" (see domestic) + -nus, suffix denoting ownership or relation. First record of dominance is 1819; dominatrix is attested since 1561, though not in quite the usual modern sense ("Rome ... dominatrix of nations" [1561]).

domineer --- 1588, from Du. domineren "to rule," from M.Fr. dominer, from L. dominari "to rule, 'lord' it over" (see domination). Shakespeare's usage is not the earliest in Eng.

Dominican (1) --- Black friar, c.1632, from L. form of Domingo de Guzman (Santo Domingo), founder of the order of preaching friars. His name, like It. form Dominic, is from L. dominicus "pertaining to a lord."

Dominican (2) --- native or inhabitant of the Dominican Republic, 1853, from the Caribbean island of Dominica, home of the nation, so named 1493, from L. (dies) dominica "Sunday," the day of the week on which the island was discovered.

dominion --- c.1430, from M.Fr. dominion, from M.L. dominionem (nom. dominio), from L. dominionem "ownership" (see domination). British sovereign colonies often were called dominions, hence the Dominion of Canada, the formal title after the 1867 union, and Old Dominion, the popular name for the U.S. state of Virginia, first recorded 1778.

domino --- 1801, from Fr. domino (1771), probably (on comparison of the black tiles of the game) from the meaning "hood with a cloak worn by canons or priests," from L. dominus "lord, master" (see domain), but the connection is not clear. Klein thinks it might be directly from dominus, "because he who has first disposed his pieces becomes 'the master.' " Metaphoric use in geopolitics is from April 1954, first used by U.S. President Eisenhower in a "New York Times" piece, in reference to what happens when you set up a row of dominos and knock the first one down.

don (n.) --- 1523, from Sp. or Port. don, title of respect, from L. dominus "lord, master." The university sense is c.1660, originally student slang; underworld sense is 1952, from It. don, from L.L. domnus, from L. dominus (see domain). Don Juan "philanderer" is from the legendary dissolute Sp. nobleman dramatized by Gabriel Tellez in "Convivado de Piedra" and popularized in Eng. by Lord Byron. The fem. form is Dona (Sp./Port.), Donna (It.).

don (v.) --- early 14c. contraction of do on (see doff). "After 1650 retained in popular use only in north. dialect; as a literary archaism it has become very frequent in 19th c." [OED].

Donald --- surname, from 13c. Scot. Dofnald, Dufenald, from Gael. Domhnall, O.Ir. Domnall (pronounced "Dovnall"), from Proto-Celtic *Dubno-valos "world-mighty."

donation --- c.1425, from M.Fr. donation, from L. donationem (nom. donatio), from donare "give as a gift," from donum "gift," from PIE *donum "gift" (cf. Skt. danam "offering, present," O.C.S. dani "tribute," Lith. duonis "gift," O.Ir. dan "gift, endowment, talent"), from base *do-/*de- "to give." Donate (v.) is an 1845 back-formation, chiefly Amer.Eng.

Donatist --- c.1460, adherent of a Christian sect in 4c. North Africa, from M.L. Donatista, from Donatus name of one of the principal men in it. The schism had more to do with episcopal succession in Carthage than with doctrine.

dong --- penis, 1891, of unknown origin.

donkey --- 1785, slang, perhaps from dun "dull grey-brown," the form perhaps infl. by monkey. Or possibly from a familiar form of Duncan (cf. dobbin). The older Eng. word was ass.

donnybrook --- 1852, from Donnybrook Fair, proverbial for carousing and brawling, held in County Dublin until 1855.

donor --- c.1439, from Anglo-Fr. donour, from O.Fr. doneur, from L. donatorem (nom. donator), from donare "give as a gift." Of blood, from 1910; of organs or tissues, from 1918.

Donovan --- from Ir. Donndubhan "dark brown."

doodad --- unnamed thing, 1905, chiefly U.S., a made-up word; as is doohickey (1914).

doodah --- excitement, 1915, from refrain of the minstrel song "Camptown Races."

doodle (v.) --- scrawl aimlessly, 1935, from dial. doodle, dudle "fritter away time, trifle." It was a noun meaning "simple fellow" from 1628. Doodle-bug "type of beetle or larvae" is c.1866, Southern U.S. dialect; the same word was applied 1944 to Ger. flying bombs in R.A.F. slang. LONGFELLOW: That's a name we made up back home for people who make foolish designs on paper when they're thinking. It's called doodling. Almost everybody's a doodler. Did you ever see a scratch pad in a telephone booth? People draw the most idiotic pictures when they're thinking. Dr. Von Holler, here, could probably think up a long name for it, because he doodles all the time. ["Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," screenplay by Robert Riskin, 1936; based on "Opera Hat," serialized in "American Magazine" beginning May 1935, by Clarence Aldington Kelland]

doofus --- student slang, "dolt, idiot, nerd," by 1960s. "Dictionary of American Slang" says "probably related to doo-doo and goofus," which isn't very helpful.

doom --- O.E. dom "law, judgment, condemnation," from P.Gmc. *domaz, from PIE root *dhe- (cf. Skt. dhaman- "law," Gk. themis "law," Lith. dome "attention"), lit. "to set, put" (see factitious). A book of laws in O.E. was a dombec. Modern sense of "fate, ruin, destruction" is c.1600, from the finality of the Christian Judgment Day.

Doomsday --- O.E. domesdæg, from domes, gen. of dom (see doom) + dæg "day." In medieval England it was expected when the world's age reached 6,000 years from creation, which was thought to have been in 5200 B.C. Bede, c.720, complained of being pestered by rustici asking him how many years till the sixth millennium ended. There is no evidence for a general panic in the year 1000 C.E. Doomsday machine "bomb powerful enough to wipe out human life on earth" is from 1960.

door --- M.E. merger of O.E. dor (neut.; pl. doru) "large door, gate," and O.E. duru (fem., pl. dura "door, gate, wicket"), both from P.Gmc. *dur-, from PIE *dhwer-/*dhwor- "a doorway, a door, a gate" (cf. Gk. thura, L. foris, Gaul. doro "mouth," Goth. dauro "gate," Skt. dvárah "door, gate," O.Pers. duvara- "door," O.Prus. dwaris "gate," Rus. dver' "a door"). The base form is frequently in dual or plural, leading to speculation that houses of the original Indo-Europeans had doors with two swinging halves. M.E. had both dure and dor; form dore predominated by 16c., but was supplanted by door. "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of." [Ogden Nash] First record of dooryard is c.1764, Amer.Eng.; doorstep is from 1810.

doo-wop --- 1969, from the nonsense harmony phrases sung under the vocal lead.

doozy --- 1903 (adj.), 1916 (n.), perhaps an alteration of daisy, or from popular It. actress Eleonora Duse (1859-1924). In either case, reinforced by Duesenberg, expensive, classy make of automobile 1920s-30s.

dopamine --- 1959, from DOPA, the amino acid (from first letter of elements of dioxyphenylalanine), + -amine.

dope --- 1807, Amer.Eng., "sauce, gravy," from Du. doop "thick dipping sauce." Extension to "drug" is 1889, from practice of smoking semi-liquid opium preparation. Meaning "foolish, stupid person" is older (1851) and may have a sense of "thick-headed." Sense of "inside information" (1901) may come from knowing before the race which horse had been drugged to influence performance. Dope-fiend is attested from 1896.

doppelganger --- 1830, from Ger., lit. "double-goer," originally with a ghostly sense. Sometimes half-Anglicized as doubleganger.

Doppler --- 1871, in reference to Christian Doppler (1803-53), Austrian scientist, who in 1842 explained the effect of relative motion on waves (originally to explain color changes in binary stars); proved by musicians performing on a moving train. Doppler shift is the change of frequency resulting from the Doppler effect.

Dorcas --- fem. proper name, from Gk. dorkas "gazelle." Dorcas Society "ladies' meeting to make clothes for the poor" (1832) is from Acts ix.36-41.

Dorchester --- O.E. Dorcanceaster, earlier Dornwaraceaster, from L. Durnovaria, from Romano-British *duro- "walled town."

dord --- 1934, a ghost word printed in "Webster's New International Dictionary" and defined as a noun used by physicists and chemists, meaning "density." In sorting out and separating abbreviations from words in preparing the dictionary's second edition, a card marked "D or d" meaning "density" somehow migrated from the "abbreviations" stack to the "words" stack. The "D or d" entry ended up being typeset as a word, dord, and defined as a synonym for density. The mistake was discovered in 1939.

Dorian --- 1603, in reference to the mode of ancient Gk. music, lit. "of Doris," from Gk. Doris, district in central Greece, traditionally named for Doros, legendary ancestor of the Dorians, whose name is probably related to doron "gift."

Doric --- 1569, see Dorian; in reference to the architectural order, 1614. The Doric dialect in ancient Gk. theater was broad and rustic, hence it has been applied in Eng. to northern and Scots dialects (1837).

dork --- stupid person, 1967, originally U.S. student slang, probably from earlier meaning "penis" (1964), itself probably an alteration of dick.

dormant --- c.1386, from O.Fr. dormant, prp. of dormir "to sleep," from L. dormire "to sleep," from I.E. base *dre- "to sleep" (cf. O.C.S. dremati "to sleep, doze," Gk. edrathon "I slept," Skt. drati "sleeps").

dormer --- 1592, originally "window of a sleeping room," from M.Fr. dormeor "sleeping room," from dormir "to sleep," from L. dormire (see dormant).

dormitory --- 1440, from L. dormitorium, from dormire "to sleep" (see dormant).

dormouse --- c.1425, possibly from Anglo-Fr. *dormouse "tending to be dormant" (from stem of dormir "to sleep," see dormer), with the second element mistaken for mouse, or from a M.E. dial. compound of mouse and M.Fr. dormir. The rodent is inactive in winter. Fr. dormeuse, fem. of dormeur "sleeper" is only attested from 17c.

Dorothy --- fem. proper name, from Fr. Dorothée, from L. Dorothea, from Gk., lit. "gift of God," from doron "gift" + fem. of theos "god" (see Thea). With the elements reversed, it becomes Theodora. The accessory called a Dorothy bag is so called from 1907.

dorsal --- 1541, from M.Fr. dorsal, from L.L. dorsalis, from L. dorsualis "of the back," from dorsum "back," of uncertain origin.

dory (1) --- small, flat-bottomed boat, 1709, Amer.Eng., perhaps from a West Indian or Central American Indian language.

dory (2) --- type of edible fish, c.1440, from Fr. doree, originally the fem. pp. of dorer "to gild," in reference to its colorings.

dose --- 1600, from M.Fr. dose, from L.L. dosis, from Gk. dosis "a portion prescribed," lit. "a giving," used by Galen and other Gk. physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from didonai "to give" (see date (1)). Slang meaning "venereal disease" is from 1914.

do-si-do --- 1929, from Fr. dos-à-dos "back to back."

dossier --- 1880, from Fr. dossier "bundle of papers," from dos "back," supposedly because the bundle bore a label on the back, from L. dossum, var. of dorsum "back." Or possibly from resemblance of the bulge in a mass of bundled papers to the curve of a back.

dot --- O.E. dott "speck, head of a boil," perhaps related to tit "nipple." Known from a single source c.1000; the word reappeared with modern meaning "mark" c.1530; not common until 18c. Morse telegraph sense is from 1838. On the dot "punctual" is 1909, in reference to a clock dial face. Dot-matrix first attested 1975.

dote --- c.1205, from M.L.G. doten "be foolish," of unknown origin. Dotage, lit. "the state of one who dotes," first recorded c.1390 for "senility." Dotard (n.) "imbecile" is attested from c.1386.

Douai --- or Douay, 1837, name of town in northern France, used elliptically in ref. to the Eng. translation of the Bible begun there late 16c., sanctioned by Roman Catholic Church. [Also called Rheims-Douai translation because it was published in Rheims in 1582]. It uses more Latinate words than the KJV.

double --- c.1225, from O.Fr. duble, from L. duplus "twofold," from duo "two" + -plus "fold." Verb meaning "to work as, in addition to one's regular job" is c.1920, circus slang, from performers who also played in the band. Double-header is first recorded 1869, Amer.Eng., originally a kind of fireworks or a railway train pulled by two engines; baseball sense is c.1890. Double Dutch "gibberish" is attested from 1864 (High Dutch for "incomprehensible language" is recorded from 1789). Double agent is first attested 1935; double date is from 1931. Double-take and double talk both first attested 1938. Military double time (1833) was originally 130 steps per minute; in modern U.S. Army 180 steps of 36 inches in a minute.

double-cross --- 1834, from double + cross in the sense of "pre-arranged swindle or fix." Originally to win a race after promising to lose it.

double-entendre --- 1673, from Fr. (where it was rare and is now obsolete), lit. "a twofold meaning," from entendre (now entente) "to hear, to understand, to mean."

doubloon --- 1622, from Sp. doblon a gold coin, augmentive of doble "double" (coin so called because it was worth twice as much as the Sp. gold pistole), from L. duplus "double."

doubt --- c.1225, from O.Fr. douter, from L. dubitare "hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain"), originally "to have to choose between two things." The sense of "fear" developed in O.Fr. and was passed on to Eng. The -b- was restored 14c. by scribes in imitation of L. Replaced O.E. tweogan (noun twynung), from tweon "two," on notion of "of two minds" or the choice of two implied in L. dubitare (cf. Ger. Zweifel "doubt," from zwei "two").

douche --- 1766, from Fr. douche, from It. doccia "shower," from docciare "to spray," from L. ductionem "a leading," from ducere "to lead" (see duke). The verb is first attested 1838.

dough --- O.E. dag "dough," from P.Gmc. *daigaz "something kneaded," from PIE *dheigh- "to mould, to form, to knead" (cf. Skt. dehah "body," lit. "that which is formed," dih- "to besmear," digen "firm, solid," originally "kneaded into a compact mass;" Gk. teikhos "wall;" L. fingere "to form, fashion," figura "a shape, form, figure;" Goth. deigan "to smear"). Meaning "money" is from 1851. Doughface was the contemptuous nickname in U.S. politics for Northern Democrats who worked in the interest of the South before the Civil War; it was taken to mean "man who allows himself to be moulded." The source is an 1820 speech by John Randolph of Roanoke, in the wake of the Missouri Compromise. "Randolph, mocking the northerners intimidated by the South, referred to a children's game in which the players daubed their faces with dough and then looked in a mirror and scared themselves." [Daniel Walker Howe, "What Hath God Wrought," 2007]

doughboy --- U.S. soldier, 1865, said to have been in oral use from 1854, or from the Mexican-American War (1847), it is perhaps from resemblance of big buttons on old uniforms to biscuits of that name, but there are various other conjectures.