dodo

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdəʊdəʊ/ (UK); /ˈdoʊˌdoʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Portuguese doudo (“fool, simpleton”),^[2][3][4][5] an insult applied by Portuguese sailors to the clumsy-looking bird.^[2][3][5] The American Heritage Dictionary instead derives it from an alteration of obsolete Dutch dodors, from dot “tuft of feathers” and obsolete ors “tail”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A massive, flightless bird of Mauritius, now extinct (1628).^[7][4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The bird was related to the pigeon,^[7][4][5] and the last record of a living one is from 1681.^[3] By 1886 the name was applied to stupid people,^[3] and also to anyone hopelessly behind the times.^[6][4][5] The phrase dead as a dodo uses the bird as a type of extinction.^[1]

Timeline

• 1628 – the flightless bird of Mauritius.^[7][4][2]
• 1681 – last record of a living dodo.^[3]
• 1886 – a stupid person.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large, flightless bird of Mauritius, related to the pigeon, extinct since the late 17th century.
2. Someone or something hopelessly old-fashioned or outmoded.
3. (slang) A stupid person.

Word family

• dodoism

Related words

• booby

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press