Etymologically
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dairy

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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

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)