dodo English · revision 2256

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdəʊdəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈdoʊˌdoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|pt|doudo|t=fool, simpleton]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) an insult applied by Portuguese sailors to the clumsy-looking bird.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The American Heritage Dictionary instead derives it from an alteration of obsolete Dutch ''dodors'', from ''dot'' “tuft of feathers” and obsolete ''ors'' “tail”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A massive, flightless bird of Mauritius, now extinct (1628).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The bird was related to the pigeon,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and the last record of a living one is from 1681.^(Etymonline) By 1886 the name was applied to stupid people,^(Etymonline) and also to anyone hopelessly behind the times.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The phrase ''dead as a dodo'' uses the bird as a type of extinction.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1628 – the flightless bird of Mauritius.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1681 – last record of a living dodo.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1886 – a stupid person.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large, flightless bird of Mauritius, related to the pigeon, extinct since the late 17th century.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone or something hopelessly old-fashioned or outmoded.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' A stupid person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dodoism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[booby]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}