Dole

//dəʊl// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    Acronym of Department of Labor and Employment. Philippines, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  3. 3
    Dole Constituency, a parliamentary constituency in Zanzibar. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A commune in Jura department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    Money or other goods given as charity.

    "So sure the dole, so ready at their call, / They stood prepar'd to see the manna fall."

  2. 2
    A sorrow or grief; dolour. archaic, uncountable

    "Syr said sir gyngalyn I wote not what knyȝt he was / but wel I wote that he sygheth and maketh grete dole. "Sir, said Sir Gingalin, I wot not what knight he was, but well I wot that he sigheth, and maketh great dole.""

  3. 3
    Alternative form of dhole (“Asian wild dog”). alt-of, alternative
  4. 4
    money received from the state wordnet
  5. 5
    Distribution; dealing; apportionment.

    "c. 1650s, John Cleveland, Upon Phillis Walking in a Morning before Sun-rising At her general dole, / Each receives his ancient soul."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    Dolus. Scotland, uncountable
  2. 7
    a share of money or food or clothing that has been charitably given wordnet
  3. 8
    Payment by the state to the unemployed; unemployment benefits. informal

    "I get my dole paid twice a week."

  4. 9
    A boundary; a landmark.

    "Curſed be he which tranſlateth the bounds and dolles of his Neighbor."

  5. 10
    A void space left in tillage. British, dialectal
Verb
  1. 1
    To distribute in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English dol, from Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”), from Proto-Germanic *dailą (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰayl- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Old Church Slavonic дѣлити (děliti, “divide”). More at deal.

Etymology 2

From Middle English dol, from Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”), from Proto-Germanic *dailą (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰayl- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Old Church Slavonic дѣлити (děliti, “divide”). More at deal.

Etymology 3

From Middle English dole (“grief”), from Old French doel (compare French deuil), from Late Latin dolus, from Latin doleo.

Etymology 4

* As an English surname, from the archaic noun dole (“portion, share”). * As a French surname, from Old French dolé, past participle of doler (“to regret”), from Latin doleo (“to hurt”). * Also as a French surname, Americanized from Daul.

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