dole
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dole¹
- /dəʊl/ UK
- [dɒʊl] UK
- /dɒl/
- /doʊl/ US
Sounds like dhole, doll (doll–dole merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl
Where it comes from
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 Polish dola (“fate, cut”), Old Church Slavonic дѣлити (děliti, “divide”). More at deal. First attested in the late 12th c. The verb is first attested in the mid-15th c.
noun doles
- 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.
- Distribution of alms or gifts. Go not away, thou weary soul: / Heaven has in store a precious dole / Even on Bethsaida's cold and darksome height, [...]
- 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.
- Payment by the state to the unemployed; unemployment benefits. I get my dole paid twice a week.
- A boundary; a landmark. Curſed be he which tranſlateth the bounds and dolles of his Neighbor.
- A void space left in tillage.
verb doles · doling · doled
- To distribute alms, etc., in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.
- To distribute (as, alms) in small amounts; to share out (small portions of a meager resource).
dole²
- /dəʊl/ UK
- [dɒʊl] UK
- /dɒl/
- /doʊl/ US
Sounds like dhole, doll (doll–dole merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl
Where it comes from
From Middle English dole (“grief”), from Old French doel (compare French deuil), from Late Latin dolus, from Latin doleo.
noun
- A sorrow or grief; dolour. 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."
- Dolus.
dole³
- /dəʊl/ UK
- [dɒʊl] UK
- /dɒl/
- /doʊl/ US
Sounds like dhole, doll (doll–dole merger) · Rhymes with -əʊl
noun doles
- Alternative form of dhole (“Asian wild dog”).
Dole⁴
- [doʊ̯ɫ] US
Rhymes with -əʊl
Where it comes from
* 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.
proper noun Doles
- A surname.
- Dole Constituency, a parliamentary constituency in Zanzibar.
- A commune in Jura department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
- A hamlet in Tirymynach community, Ceredigion, Wales (OS grid ref SN6386).
DOLE⁵
- /ˈdole/
proper noun
- Acronym of Department of Labor and Employment
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pogey, pogy, distribute, allocation, ration, stipend, charity, mete, allowance, relief, unemployment, states, bottom, countries, handout, benefit
Translations
Every language
noun money or goods given as charity
| Русский | ми́лостыня mílostynja, подая́ние podajánije, пода́чка podáčka |
|---|
noun unemployment benefit
| Español | paro |
|---|---|
| Français | une allocation de chômage, assedics |
| Deutsch | Stütze |
| Русский | посо́бие posóbije, посо́бие по безрабо́тице posóbije po bezrabótice |
verb to distribute in small amounts
| Français | distribuer |
|---|---|
| Русский | раздава́ть razdavátʹ |
Talk about this word "dole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dole. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dole. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dole "dole." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dole.Cite this
@misc{dole_2026,
title = {dole},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dole},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
