doff
/dɔf/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.11 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).
Transitive verb
verb
To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).
Transitive verb
verb
To remove (a bobbin or spindle which is full of spun yarn) from a spinning frame for replacement with an empty one.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[…] Calidore perceiuing, thought it beſt / To chaunge the manner of his loftie looke; / And doffing his bright armes, himſelfe addreſt / In ſhepheards vveed, and in his hand he tooke, / In ſtead of ſteelehead ſpeare, a ſhepheards hooke, […]"
- "Thou vveare a Lyons hide, doff it for ſhame, / And hang a Calues skin on thoſe recreant limbes."
- "You haue deceiu'd our truſt, / And made vs doffe our eaſie roabes of peace, / To cruſh our old limbs in vngentle ſteele, / This is not vvell my Lord, this is not vvell."
- "[T]hen made him d'off thoſe vveeds: / And ſent the Mightie vnto mightie deeds."
- "Upon a riſing bank I ſat adovvn, / Then doff'd my ſhoe, […]"
- "The little vvarriors doff the targe and ſpear, […]"
Etymology
PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰeh₁-, doffen, do off, dōn of, *dōn, *dōną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɔf/
- British English: /dɒf/
Usage
Inflected Forms
doffs (present, singular)
doffing (participle, present)
doffed (participle, past)
doffed (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
doffed (first person, past)
doffest (archaic, present)
doffed (past, second person)
doffedst (archaic, past)
doffeth (archaic, present)
doffed (past, singular)