daughter English · revision 2599

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=ine-pro *dʰugh₂tḗr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdɔː.tə/, US /ˈdɑː.t̬ɚ/, /ˈdɔː-/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|doughter]], earlier dohter,^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) [[inh|ang|dohtor]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Saxon dohtar, Old Norse [[m|non|dóttir]], Dutch [[m|nl|dochter]], German [[m|de|Tochter]] and Gothic daúhtar.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) It is from [[ine-pro|*dʰugh₂tḗr|alt=*dhugheter|t=daughter]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) the source also of Sanskrit duhitár-, Armenian dustr, Lithuanian duktė and Greek [[m|grc|θυγάτηρ|tr=thugátēr]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Hoad calls the PIE word of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986) It was lost in Celtic and Latin, where filia “daughter” is the feminine of filius “son”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English dohtor: about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED's first quotation for the sense “female child” is from about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In late Old English ''daughter'' was also used of a woman seen in an analogous relationship, to her country, church or culture.^(Etymonline) From about 1200 it was used of anything regarded as feminine with respect to its source.^(Etymonline) The Middle English plural was often dohtren or deghtren, with an ''-en'' ending.^(OED 1989) The modern spelling evolved in southern England in the 16th century,^(Etymonline) and the form ''daughter'' is first recorded in 1531.^(OED 1989) ''Daughter-in-law'' is from the late 14th century; earlier were sonnes wif and, earlier still, Old English snoru.^(Etymonline) The adjective, as in ''a daughter cell'', is from 1614 in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024) In physics, the product of the radioactive decay of an element is its daughter.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – ''dohtor'', in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late Old English – a woman as a daughter of her church or country.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1200 – anything feminine with respect to its source.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – ''daughter-in-law''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1531 – the spelling ''daughter''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1614 – adjective.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A female child in relation to her parents.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A female [[descendant]].^(AHD)

+ # A woman regarded as the product of a place, culture or group: ''a daughter of the Church''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(physics)'' The product of the [[radioactive decay]] of an element.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having the relation of a daughter: ''a daughter cell''.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[daughterly]]

+ * [[daughterless]]

+ * [[daughterlike]]

+ * [[daughter-in-law]]

+ * [[goddaughter]]

+ * [[granddaughter]]

+ * [[great-granddaughter]]

+ * [[stepdaughter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[son]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}