dodo
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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
- A large, flightless bird of Mauritius, related to the pigeon, extinct since the late 17th century.
- Someone or something hopelessly old-fashioned or outmoded.
- (slang) A stupid person.
Word family
- dodoism
Related words
- booby
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press