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doe

/dəʊ/ noun

In Latin: cerva Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about doe at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The federal department responsible for maintaining a national energy policy of the United States; created in 1977.
  2. Mature female of mammals of which the male is called `buck'.

Origin

From Middle English do (“(female) fallow deer”), from Old English dā, from Proto-West Germanic *daihā (“female deer, mother deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck (milk), to suckle”). Cognate with Middle Scots da, dae (“female fallow deer”), Danish då (“fallow deer”), Sanskrit धेनु (dhenú, “cow, milk-cow”), Old English dēon (“to suckle”), Old English delu (“teat”). Related also to female, filial, fetus.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)