dairy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdɛə.ɹi/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English deierie, dayerie,^[2][3][4] formed with Anglo-French -erie, -ery, from deie, daie, a dairymaid, female servant,^[5][2][4] from Old English dǣge, a kneader of bread,^[2][4] cognate with Old Norse deigja, housekeeper,^[2][3] and related to Gothic deigan, to knead, and dough.^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster's Word Histories notes the same root in the second element of lady.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A room or building where milk and cream are kept and made into butter and cheese: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[8][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The pure native word was dey-house (mid-14th century).^[5] The branch of farming concerned with milk, butter and cheese is from about 1386 in the OED and the 1670s in Etymonline,^[8][5] and a dairy farm from 1562.^[8] A shop selling milk and milk products is a later urban use,^[5][8] and in New Zealand a dairy is a corner shop open outside normal hours.^[9] Dairymaid is from 1599 and dairyman from 1784.^[2] In Lancashire dialect dairy was also a form of diary.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a dairy room.^[8]
• c. 1386 – dairy farming.^[8]
• 1562 – a dairy farm.^[8]
• 1599 – dairymaid.^[2]
• 1780 – the verb.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A business that processes or sells milk and milk products.
2. A place where milk and cream are stored or made into butter and cheese.
3. A dairy farm, or the dairy business.
4. (New Zealand) A small shop open outside normal trading hours.

Adjective

1. Of or made from milk: dairy products.

Word family

• dairyer
• dairying
• dairyland
• dairyman
• dairywoman
• dairymaid
• nondairy
• dairy cattle

Related words

• dough
• lady

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)