doe
UK /dəʊ/ · US /doʊ/ noun, proper noun
Forms does doing doth did didde done
- noun A female deer; also used of similar animals such as antelope (less commonly a goat, as nanny is also used).
- noun (specifically) A female fallow deer.
- noun A female rabbit or hare.
- noun A female squirrel.
- noun A female kangaroo.
- proper noun A surname of English origin.
Synonyms
hind blue flyer ED Department of Energy Energy Department Energy
Etymology
From Middle English do (“(female) fallow deer”), from Old English dā, from Proto-West Germanic *daihā (“female deer, mother deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck (milk), to suckle”).
Cognate with Middle Scots da, dae (“female fallow deer”), Danish då (“fallow deer”), Sanskrit धेनु (dhenú, “cow, milk-cow”), Old English dēon (“to suckle”), Old English delu (“teat”). Related also to female, filial, fetus.
* As an English and Scottish surname, from the noun doe.
* As a Norman surname, from Old French d' Eu, from Eu, Seine-Maritime. That city's name could be from Frankish *auwju (“island, water meadow”) or otherwise a reduction of Latin Augusta.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “doe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details