Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of daw

daw(n.)

"jackdaw, small sort of crow," early 15c., daue, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *dawe, from Proto-Germanic *dakhwo (source also of Old High German taha, German Dohle), perhaps imitative of bird's cry. Medieval Latin tacula, Italian taccola are said to be Germanic loan words.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to daw

dawdle(v.)

1650s, intransitive, "to idle, waste time," perhaps a variant of daddle "to walk unsteadily." Perhaps influenced by daw, because the bird was regarded as sluggish and silly. Not in general use until c. 1775. Transitive sense in dawdle away is attested by 1768. Related: Dawdled; dawdling; dawdler.

jackdaw(n.)

1540s, "the common daw," a type of small European crow (Corvus monedula), "which frequents church towers, old buildings, etc.; noted for its loquacity and thievish propensities" [OED 1989]. See jack (n.) + daw.

In modern times, parrots are almost the only birds that have the gift of speech, though connoisseurs are not ignorant that starlings and jackdaws have good abilities in that way, when properly educated. ["Chambers' Home Book and Pocket Miscellany," 1853]

In U.S. sometimes applied to a species of grackle.

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of daw

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    dew
    Middle English deaw, deu, from Old English deaw, from Proto-Germanic *dawwaz (source also of Old Saxon dau, Old Frisian daw...
    steward
    Middle English steuard, steward, "official in charge of the domestic affairs of a (large) household," from Old English stiward, stigweard "one who has charge of the affairs of the household or estate of another," from stig "hall, pen for cattle, part of a house" (see sty (n.1)) +
    Eros
    god of love, late 14c., from Greek eros (plural erotes), "god or personification of love; (carnal) love," from eran, eramai, erasthai "to desire," which is of uncertain origin. Beekes suggests it is from Pre-Greek. The Freudian sense of "urge to self-preservation and sexual pleas
    fork
    Old English forca, force "pitchfork, forked instrument, forked weapon," from a Germanic borrowing (Old Frisian forke, Dutch vork, Old Norse forkr, Danish fork) of Latin furca "two-pronged fork; pitchfork; fork used in cooking," a word of uncertain origin. Old English also had for
    commission
    mid-14c., "authority entrusted to someone, delegated authority or power," from Old French commission and directly from Latin commissionem (nominative commissio) "act of committing," in Medieval Latin "delegation of business," noun of action from past participle stem of committere
    lip-service
    "something proffered but not performed, service with the lips only; insincere profession of good will," 1640s, from lip (n.) + service (n.1). Earlier in same sense was lip-labour (1530s). This was a general pattern in 16c.-17c., for example lip-wisdom (1580s), the wisdom of those
    perpendicular
    late 15c., perpendiculer, of a line, "lying at right angles to the horizon" (in astronomy, navigation, etc.), from an earlier adverb (late 14c.), "at right angles to the horizon," from Old French perpendiculer, from Late Latin perpendicularis "vertical, as a plumb line," from Lat
    pessimism
    1794 "worst condition possible, point of greatest deterioration" (a sense now rare or obsolete), borrowed (by Coleridge) from French pessimisme, formed (on model of French optimisme) from Latin pessimus "worst," perhaps originally "bottom-most," from PIE *ped-samo-, suffixed (sup
    promulgate
    "make known by open declaration, publish, announce" (a decree, news, etc.), 1520s, from Latin promulgatus, past participle of promulgare "make publicly known, propose openly, publish," probably from pro "forth" (see pro-) + mulgere "to milk" (see milk (n.)), used metaphorically f
    obvious
    1580s, "frequently met with" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin obvius "that is in the way, presenting itself readily, open, exposed, commonplace," from obviam (adv.) "in the way," from ob "in front of, against" (see ob-) + viam, accusative of via "way" (from PIE root *wegh- "to

    Share daw

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near daw
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.