dough

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dəʊ/ (UK); /doʊ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dogh, inherited from Old English dāg,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *daigaz (“something kneaded”),^[3][2][4] cognate with Dutch deeg, Old High German teic (modern Teig), Old Norse deig and Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌲𐍃 (daigs),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead, form”), also the source of Latin fingō (“to shape”) and Ancient Greek τεῖχος (teîkhos, “wall”).^[4][3][5] It is related to lady and dairy.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Flour or meal moistened and kneaded for baking: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.^[7][2] The Middle English form doh is from about 1150.^[2]

Semantic evolution

My cake is dough, my project has failed, is a proverb from 1596.^[7] Any soft pasty mass is from 1559.^[7] The slang sense, money, is originally American, from 1851,^[3][7] compare bread.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – dāg.^[7][2]
• 1559 – a soft mass.^[7]
• 1596 – my cake is dough.^[7]
• 1851 – money (slang).^[3][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A thick mixture of flour and liquid, kneaded and shaped for baking into bread or pastry.
2. Any similar soft, pasty mass.
3. (slang) Money.

Word family

• doughlike
• donut
• doughface
• sourdough
• doughboy
• doughnut
• doughy

Related words

• lady
• dairy
• figure

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ 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