Etymologically
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dupe

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /djuːp/, /dʒuːp/; /duːp/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dupe (“deceived person”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Middle French duppe,[3][4][5] originally thieves' jargon,[4] probably from de huppe “of the hoopoe”,[3][4][5][2] a bird thought to be stupid-looking.[2][3][4][6] Random House explains it as tête d'uppe “head of a hoopoe”, that is, “fool”.[6] It is related to hoopoe.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who lets himself be deceived; a victim of deception (1681).[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline compares other names of supposedly stupid birds applied to foolish people, such as booby, goose and gull.[4] The verb followed in 1704.[3][4][5][7] An unrelated dupe, a shortening of duplicate, appeared about 1900.[5][7][6]

Timeline

  • early 15th century – French duppe.[4]
  • 1681 – noun, a deceived person.[7][3][5]
  • 1704 – verb, to deceive.[7][3][4][5]
  • about 1900 – dupe, a duplicate, a separate word.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who is easily deceived or cheated; a fool.
  2. A person used as the tool of another person or cause.

Verb

  1. To deceive or trick someone.

Word family

  • dupability
  • dupable
  • duper
  • dupery
  • hoopoe

References

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