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dory

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dory¹

  • /ˈdɔːɹi/

Rhymes with -ɔːɹi

Where it comes from

Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito.

noun dories

  1. A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers. From every schooner, dories were being dropped into the shining, clear water. The sound of voices and the splashes of oars carried across the sea.

dory²

  • /ˈdɔːɹi/

Rhymes with -ɔːɹi

Where it comes from

From Middle English dorry, from Old French doree, past participle of dorer (“to gild”), from Latin deauratus.

noun dories

  1. Any of several different families of large-eyed, silvery, deep-bodied, laterally compressed, and roughly discoid marine fish. A DIATREE FOR DINNER. […] The ſeconde Courſe. […] Dorye

adjective more dory · most dory

  1. obsolete Of a bright yellow or golden color.

dory³

Where it comes from

PIE word

*dóru

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru).

noun dories · dorata · doru

  1. A wooden pike or spear about three metres (ten feet) in length with a flat, leaf-shaped iron spearhead and a bronze butt-spike (called a sauroter), which was the main weapon of hoplites in Ancient Greece. It was usually not thrown but rather thrust at opponents with one hand. The basic weapon of the hoplite was the dory, a wooden-shaft spear six to nine feet long with a metal point at each end.

Dory⁴

proper noun Dorys

  1. countable, uncountable A diminutive of the female given names Dorothy and Doris.
  2. countable, uncountable A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: dinghy, rowboat, hunky, doru, doryman, doryline, john doree, john dory, fisher-boat, dobber, drifter, dipsey, fishboat, fisherboat, dragnet, dorad

Translations

Every language

noun type of boat

Françaisdoris
DeutschDoriboot, Dorie, Dory

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{dory_2026,
  title = {dory},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dory},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}