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daw

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DAW¹

  • /dɔː/
  • /diː eɪ ˈdʌbəljuː/

Sounds like d'aw, daw, door (non-rhotic) · Rhymes with -ɔː

noun DAWs

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of digital audio workstation

verb

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of dispense as written

daw²

  • /dɔː/ UK
  • /dɑː/ US

Sounds like DAW, d'aw, door (non-rhotic) · Rhymes with -ɔː, -ɑː

Where it comes from

From Middle English dawe, from Old English *dāwe, from Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā. Cognate with German Dahle, Dohle, dialectal Tach.

noun daws

  1. A western jackdaw, Coloeus monedula, a passerine bird in the crow family (Corvidae), more commonly called jackdaw. The loud daw, his throat displaying, draws The whole assembly of his fellow daws.
  2. obsolete An idiot, a simpleton; fool. Therefore to make complaynt Of such mysadvysed Parsons and dysgysed, Thys boke we have devysed, […] No good preest to offend, But suche dawes to amend, […]

Similar: jackdaw

daw³

  • /dɔː/ UK
  • /dɑː/ US

Sounds like DAW, d'aw, door (non-rhotic) · Rhymes with -ɔː, -ɑː

Where it comes from

From Middle English dawen, from Old English dagian (“to dawn”), from Proto-West Germanic *dagēn, from Proto-Germanic *dagāną (“to become day, dawn”), from *dagaz (“day”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). More at day, dawn.

verb daws · dawing · dawed

  1. To dawn.
  2. obsolete To wake (someone) up. ANd whanne the Quene herd them saye soo she felle to the erthe in a dede swoune and thenne syr Bors took her vp and dawed her & whanne she was awaked she kneled afore the thre knyghtes and helde vp bothe their handes and besoughte them to seke hym And when the queen heard them say so she fell t
  3. obsolete To daunt; to terrify.

Daw⁴

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from a Middle English short form of David. Also a nickname from the (jack)daw. Compare Davey, Dakin.

* Also as an English surname, from a rhyming pet form of Raw, a name related to Rauf; compare Ralph, Rawe, Rawson, Dawkins, Dawson.

* As an Arabic surname, from ضوء (“light”).

* As an Irish surname, from Ó Deaghaidh (literally “descendant of Deaghadh”), from deag (“good”) + ádh (“fate”), comparable to Goodwin.

proper noun

  1. A surname transferred from the given name.

Daw⁵

Where it comes from

From Burmese ဒေါ် (dau, “madam”).

proper noun

  1. Myanmar honorific title for older women Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: jackdaw, corvus monedula, cfo, ang, followup, dam, withal, dow, pagoda, dao, woman, wife, bird, grackle, aung, dpf

noun

Similar: jackdaw

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Cite this
MLA

"daw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/daw. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

daw. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/daw

Chicago

"daw." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/daw.

BibTeX
@misc{daw_2026,
  title = {daw},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/daw},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}