dove
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dove¹
- /dʌv/
- /dʊv/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌv
Where it comes from
From Middle English douve, dove, duve, from Old English *dūfe (“dove, pigeon”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūbā, from Proto-Germanic *dūbǭ (“dove, pigeon”).
Cognate with Scots doo, dow, Saterland Frisian Duuwe, West Frisian do, Dutch duif, Afrikaans duif, Sranan Tongo doifi, German Taube, German Low German Duuv, Dutch Low Saxon duve, doeve, Danish due, Faroese dúgva, Icelandic dúfa, Norwegian Bokmål due, Norwegian Nynorsk due, Swedish duva, Yiddish טויב (toyb), Gothic *𐌳𐌿𐌱𐍉 (*dubō).
noun doves
- A pigeon, especially one smaller in size and white-colored; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than three hundred species of the family Columbidae. Dove's brains have been prepared by chefs for amorous expectations.
-
A person favouring conciliation and negotiation rather than conflict.
On the left are the activist Vietniks, eager to protest the war; next are the doves, who oppose the U.S. role but shun demonstrations; and in the middle are the apathetics, who simply are not concerned enough to think through their own stand.
Similar: peace dove · Opposite: hawk
- A term of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle. O my dove, […] let me hear thy voice.
- A greyish, bluish, pinkish colour like that of the bird.
- Ellipsis of love dove (“a tablet of the drug ecstasy”).
dove²
- /dəʊv/ UK
- /doʊv/ US
Rhymes with -əʊv
Where it comes from
A modern formation of the strong conjugation, by analogy with drive → drove and weave → wove.
Dove³
- /dʌv/
Rhymes with -ʌv
Where it comes from
* As an English surname, from the noun dove.
* As a Scottish surname, calque of Scottish Gaelic (mac) Calmáin (“(son of the) dove”). Compare Coleman.
* Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Duff.
* As a north German surname, from the Low German adjective doof (“deaf”); see deaf.
proper noun
- A river in England, forming the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
- A river in Suffolk, England, a tributary of the Waveney.
- An unincorporated community in Laclede County, Missouri, United States.
- A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Caelum and Puppis.
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: squab, peacenik, pigeon, cushat, bird, turtle, cots, cooing, sucker, slipped, soaked, cot, dipped, cote, mourning, tailing
Translations
Every language
noun bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
| Español | pichón, urpi, tortolito, tortolita, totaqui, urpila |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 비둘기 bidulgi |
| 日本語 | 鳩 hato |
| 中文 | 鴿子 /鸽子 gēzi |
| हिन्दी | कपोत kapot, कबूतर kabūtar, परेवा parevā |
| Kiswahili | njiwa |
| Português | pombo, pomba |
| Français | colombe, pigeon |
| Deutsch | Taube |
| Italiano | colomba, piccione |
| Ελληνικά | περιστέρι peristéri, περιστέρα peristéra |
| Română | porumbel |
| Русский | го́лубь gólubʹ, голу́бка golúbka, го́рлица górlica |
| Tiếng Việt | bồ câu |
| العربية | يَمَام yamām, حَمَام ḥamām |
| עברית | יוֹנָה yoná |
noun term of endearment
| Deutsch | Täubchen |
|---|
Talk about this word "dove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dove. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. dove. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dove "dove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dove.Cite this
@misc{dove_2026,
title = {dove},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dove},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
