doll English · revision 10339

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1560|origins=en Dorothy}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɒl/ ''(UK)''; /dɑl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from Doll, a pet form of the name [[Dorothy]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) with -l- for -r- as in Hal for Harry, Moll for Mary and Sally for Sarah.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Doll, a pet name given generically to a female favourite or mistress: 1560 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1550s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In old slang, from the 1610s, a doll was a sweetheart or mistress, and by the 1640s the word had degenerated to slattern.^(Etymonline) The sense of a child's toy baby is attested by 1700;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) before this the toy was called a poppet or [[puppet]].^(Cresswell 2021) The sense returned to people in 1778 as a pretty but silly woman,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) as attractive girl in American slang of the 1840s,^(Cresswell 2021) and by the mid-20th century as an affectionate or patronizing name for a young woman.^(Etymonline) The verb, to pet a child, is from 1867 in dialect, and ''to doll up'', to dress up, by 1882 in Australia and New Zealand.^(Etymonline) ''Doll's house'' is from 1783 and ''dollhouse'' from 1873.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560 – a mistress.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1640s – a slattern.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1700 – a toy figure.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1778 – a pretty, silly woman.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1783 – doll's house.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1882 – doll up (Australia).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small figure of a human being, used as a [[toy]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' An attractive person, especially a woman, or a term of endearment.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A helpful or obliging person.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(doll up)'' To dress up smartly or showily.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dollish]]

+ * [[dollishly]]

+ * [[dollishness]]

+ * [[dollface]]

+ * [[dollhouse]]

+ * [[dolly]]

+ * [[baby doll]]

+ * [[doll up]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[puppet]]

+ * [[poppet]]

+ * [[Dorothy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage note observes that doll has risen in the world: Doll and Dolly were nicknames for Dorothy, and Doll, like Jill and Nan, took on the generic sense of a mistress, as in Shakespeare's Doll Tearsheet.^(AHD) In Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Sussex dialect a doll was the smallest pig of a litter.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}