dock

English has four words spelled dock: a basin for ships, from Middle Dutch; the stump of a tail, perhaps from Old English; the enclosure for the accused in court, from Flemish; and the weed, from Old English docce.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /dɒk/, US /dɑːk/^[4]

dock¹ for ships

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Dutch docke or Middle Low German docke,^[1][2] of unknown origin,^[1] perhaps ultimately from Late Latin *ductia, aqueduct, from Latin dūcere, to lead,^[2][5] and perhaps first meaning the furrow a grounded ship makes in a mud bank.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The hollow made by a ship run aground: 1513.^[1]

Semantic evolution

An artificial basin built for ships is first recorded in 1552,^[1] and dock as a general word for a pier or wharf only in 1707, in American English.^[1] Dry dock is from 1627 and dockyard from 1704.^[1] The verb is from the 15th century,^[5] and coupling spacecraft in space is a modern use.^[6] A dock for charging a mobile device is recent.^[7]

Timeline

• 1513 – a ship's hollow in mud.^[1]
• 1552 – a ship basin.^[1]
• 1627 – dry dock.^[1]
• 1704 – dockyard.^[1]
• 1707 – a wharf (US).^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An area of water beside or between piers where ships load, unload or are repaired.
2. A wharf or pier.
3. A unit on which a mobile device is placed for charging.

Verb

1. To bring a ship or vehicle into a dock, or to come into one.
2. To join spacecraft together in space.

Word family

• dockyard
• dry dock
• docker

dock² tail; cut short

Etymology

Middle English dok is possibly from Old English -docca, as in fingerdocca, finger muscle,^[1][3][5] from *dokkō, apparently “something round”,^[1][2] cognate with Frisian dok, bundle, Middle Low German docke, bundle, doll, and Old Norse dokka, doll, girl.^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The solid fleshy part of an animal's tail: probably about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to cut short, is from about 1378 in Wycliffe, then to cut hair short (in Chaucer) and to curtail.^[1] To cut off an animal's tail is from the late 14th century,^[2] and to deduct a part, especially from someone's pay as a punishment, by 1815.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1378 – to cut short.^[1]
• c. 1390 – the fleshy part of a tail.^[1]
• 1815 – to dock wages.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The fleshy part of an animal's tail, or a tail that has been cut short.

Verb

1. To cut off or shorten an animal's tail.
2. To take away part of someone's wages or benefits, especially as a punishment.

dock³ in court

Etymology

It is borrowed from Flemish dok, earlier docke, a pen or cage for animals,^[1][2][8] which is of unknown origin;^[1][2] it was probably first rogues' slang.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The enclosure where an accused person stands in court: 1586, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

After 1610 the usual term was bail-dock, and dock was revived and popularized in the 19th century largely through Dickens.^[1] Word Origins notes that the dock was once crowded with all the petty criminals to be tried that day.^[8]

Timeline

• 1586 – the dock in court.^[1]
• after 1610 – bail-dock.^[1]
• 19th century – revived by Dickens.^[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The enclosed place in a court of law where the defendant stands or sits.

dock⁴ plant

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English docce (about 1000),^[1][9][3] from *dokkōn,^[1] cognate with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German docke and Old Danish dokka,^[1][5] of unknown origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any of various coarse weeds of the genus Rumex: about 1000.^[9][1]

Semantic evolution

The phrase in dock, out nettle was first a charm said while rubbing a nettle sting with a dock leaf (about 1374).^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – the weed.^[9]
• c. 1374 – in dock, out nettle.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various coarse weeds of the genus Rumex, with broad leaves.

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press