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donkey

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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The origin is uncertain. Originally a slang term from the late eighteenth century. Perhaps fromMiddle English*donekie(“a miniature dun horse”), a double diminutive ofMiddle Englishdon,dun,dunne(a name for a dun horse), equivalent to modernEnglishdun(“brownish grey colour”) +-ock(diminutive suffix) +-ie(diminutive suffix), or similarly formed from the given nameDuncan.[1][2] CompareMiddle Englishdonning(“a dun horse”),Englishdunnock. Became more common than the original termass due to the latter's homophony and partial merger witharse (compare similar development betweenconey andrabbit).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Donkey
The donkey has been used as aworking animal for at least 5000 years.

donkey (pluraldonkeysor(obsolete)donkies)

  2. Adomesticanimal,Equus asinus asinus, similar to ahorse.
    Synonym:Jerusalem pony(slang)
    Hypernyms:ass(loosely synonymous) <equine <equid <mammal <animal <creature,critter
    Hyponyms:jack,jackass,jenny
    • 1776 August 24, “[untitled]”, inIpswich Journal‎[3], Ipswich, Suffolk, page 1:
      Lost last Saturday between twenty and thirty shillings they that have found it please to leave it heare there is five shillings reward by Wm. Roberts that goeth with aDonkey with many thanks
    • 1785, Anonymous[Francis Grose],A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue‎[4], London: S. Hooper:
      DONKEY,donkey dick, a he, or jack ass, calleddonkey, perhaps from the Spanish, or don like gravity of that animal, entitled also the king of Spain's trumpeter
    • 2013 November 17, Robert Frost,Delphi Collected Works of Robert Frost (Illustrated) (Delphi Poets Series)‎[5], Delphi Classics,→ISBN,→OCLC:
      I vow we must be near the place from where
      The two converging slides, the avalanches,
      On Marshall, look likedonkey's ears.
      We may as well see that and save the day.”
      “Don'tdonkey's ears suggest we shake our own?
      'For God's sake, aren't you fond of viewing nature?[…]
  3. Astubborn person.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:stubborn person
  4. Afool.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:fool
  5. (nautical) A smallauxiliaryengine.
    Synonym:donkey engine
  6. (naval slang, dated) Abox orchest, especially atoolbox.
  7. (pokerslang) A badpoker player.
  8. (UK, nautical) Asailor'sstoragechest.
    • 1903, W. H. Hood,The Blight of Insubordination‎[6], page80:
      The chest may be found among those who stick to the sailing vessels, but for the steamer, the donkey died its natural death when the Suez Canal—responsible for many changes at sea—became an accomplished fact.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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a domestic animal—see alsoass
a stubborn person
a fool
a small auxiliary engine

See also

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References

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  1. ^Barnhart, Robert andSteinmetz, Sol, editors (1988), “donkey”, inThe Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology‎[1],Bronxville, N.Y.:The H. W. Wilson Co.,→ISBN,→OCLC,page295, column 2.
  2. ^Onions, C[harles] T., Friedrichsen, G. W. S., and Burchfield, R[obert] W., editors (1966), “donkey”, inThe Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology‎[2],Oxford:Clarendon Press,→ISBN,→OCLC,page283, column 2; reprinted1994.

Further reading

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