Where does “dole” come from?
Dole comes from Middle English dol, from Old French doel, from Proto-Germanic dailą, from Latin doleo meaning "to grieve," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European delh₁-.
dole (English): To distribute in small amounts; to share out...
Definitions
- To distribute in small amounts; to share out...
Ancestry of “dole”, step by step
dole traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English dole
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dole | grief, sorrow |
| 2 | Old French | doel | pain; suffering; anguish |
| 3 | Latin | dolus | trickery, deception, deceit, guile; evil intent;... |
| 4 | Latin | dolor | pain, ache, hurt; anguish, grief, sorrow;... |
| 5 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |
via Middle English dollen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dollen | to make or become blunt or dull; to make or... |
| 2 | Middle English | dull | — |
| 3 | Old English | dol | foolish |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *dol | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | dulaz | confused, stunned; foolish, misled, mad |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | dwalaz | confused, stunned; foolish, misled, mad |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰwel- | — |