▪ I. doe
(dəʊ)
Forms: 1 dá, 2–6 do, (3 pl. don), 4–7 doo, 5–6 Sc. and north. da, (6 dooe, 7 doa), 6– doe (Sc. dae).
[OE. dá is thought by some to be a contracted form, cognate with OHG. tâmo, dâmo wk. masc., MHG. tâme, G. dam- (in damhirsch, damwild), a. L. dāma, damma f., sometimes m., fallow deer, buck, doe; but there are serious difficulties. See Pogatscher Gr. Lat. u. Rom. Lehnworte im Altengl. §302.]
1. a. The female of the fallow deer; applied also to the female of allied animals, as the reindeer.
| c 1000 ælfric Gr. (Z.) 309 Damma, uel dammula, dâ. a 1200 Voc. Wr.-Wülc. 543 Do. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 393/12 To cachche hert and bocke and don. 1388 Wyclif Prov. vi. 5 Be thou rauyschid as a doo fro the hond. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiii. 105 Hertez and hyndez, bukk and da. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 324 Venyson freshe of bucke and do. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 21 The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. i. 128 For O loues Bow, Shootes Bucke and Doe. 1609 Bible (Douay) Deut. xii. 15 Lawful to be offered, as the doa and the hart. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 127 He tooke it for a Doo, where it was more likely some..Chamoy. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 130 These horns are proper only to the Buck [Reindeer], the Doe having much less and fewer branches. 1807–15 Wordsw. White Doe Rylst. vii. 96 A doe most beautiful, clear-white. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. iii, Close in her covert cowered the doe. |
† b. Applied generically to both sexes, like L. dāma. Hence doe-buck, a male deer. Obs.
| c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 759 Hic damus, a dobuk. Hic vel hec dama, a doo. |
2. The female of the hare or rabbit; sometimes dial. of other animals, e.g. the rat.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 87 One that kept tame Conies..had Does which littered three at a time, and within fourteen daies after, they littered four more. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece ii. i. 300 They are distinguished by the Names of Bucks and Does; and the Males are usually call'd Jack Hares. 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 99 A doe [rabbit] when suckling, will drink milk. |
3. attrib., as doe-buck, doe-cony, doe-deer, doe-eye (so doe-eyed adj.), doe-leather, doe-venison; made of doeskin, as doe trousers.
| c 1455 Golagros & Gaw. 226 Thay drive on the da deir be dalis and doun. c 1475 [see 1 b]. 1611 Cotgr., Rabolliere, a Rabbets neast; the hole wherein a Doe Conie keepeth her young ones. 1747 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 572 The Skin drew or stretch'd like a Piece of Doe-Leather. 1819 Pantologia s.v., Doe venison is not equal in estimation with buck venison. 1844 Advt. in Illust. Lond. News 22 June 407/3 Plain doe trousers, 17/6. 1933 Dylan Thomas Let. (1966) 75 A broad creature, not..to be confused with the slim, doe-eyed apparition of your green book. 1959 ‘J. R. Macdonald’ Galton Case (1960) ii. 17 The doe-eyed girl from the badminton court. 1959 Manch. Guardian 2 July 5/6 A certain tendency to doe-eyed sentimentality. 1963 N. Freeling Because of Cats iv. 64 Big wide doe-eyes nodded, yes. |
▪ II. doe
obs. form of do, dough.