dove

1 of 2

noun

ˈdəv How to pronounce dove (audio)
Synonyms of dovenext
1
: any of numerous pigeons
especially : a small wild pigeon
2
: a gentle woman or child
3
: one who takes a conciliatory attitude and advocates negotiations and compromise
especially : an opponent of war compare hawk entry 1
dovish
ˈdə-vish How to pronounce dove (audio)
adjective
dovishness noun

dove

2 of 2
ˈdōv How to pronounce dove (audio)

past tense of dive

Synonyms

Noun

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of dove in a Sentence

Noun The President sided with the doves and worked to avoid war. the doves were in favor of using the surplus to improve the nation's schools and not its weapons systems
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
During the development process, the two dove into the Belstaff archive, looking at vintage pieces and studying functional motoring details on legwear and neck label branding. —Tianwei Zhang, WWD, 1 Nov. 2024 But reserve cornerback Prophet Brown dove to break up the first-down pass. —Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024 The two dove into his childhood, spirituality, and more. —Regina Cho, VIBE.com, 22 Oct. 2024 Harper dressed as Aphrodite the goddess of love, putting on a long blonde wig and holding a dove in one hand. —Hannah Sacks, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dove 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English duve, douve, dowe, probably going back to Old English *dūfe and a shortened form *dufe, going back to Germanic *dūƀōn- (whence also Old Frisian dūwe "dove," Old Saxon dūƀa, Middle Dutch duve, Old High German tūba, Old Icelandic dúfa, Gothic -dubo, in hraiwadubo "turtledove"), of uncertain origin

Note: The modern English outcome with [ʌ] presupposes shortening of (or variation with) a Middle English form with ọ̄, itself presupposing Old English ŭ affected by Middle English open-syllable lengthening. Middle English spellings such as douve, however, would seem to require an Old English long vowel, as do the Germanic cognates. These issues were pointed out by E. J. Dobson (English Pronunciation, 1500-1700, 2. edition, Oxford, 1968, p. 514), who follows the Oxford English Dictionary's suggestion that the noun is related to Old English dūfan "to dive, plunge (into a liquid)" (see dive entry 1) and that the forms with long and short u reflect different ablaut grades of dūfan (a class II strong verb). Essentially the same solution, without the discussion of the English details, is proposed by G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013). The difficulty with this hypothesis is that the noun in Germanic languages uniformly means "dove, pigeon," not an aquatic bird. Another proposal associates *dūƀōn- with the Celtic etymon of Old Irish dub "dark, black," Old Welsh dub, Welsh du, on the assumption that a dove is "the dark bird." But such a source, usually derived, together with Germanic *dauƀa- "deaf, senseless" (see deaf) and Greek typhlós "blind, dark," from Indo-European *dhubh-, *dheu̯bh-, could not regularly produce a long u. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the etymological successor to the Oxford English Dictionary, abandons the dive connection and says simply "presumed to be imitative of the bird's note."

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dove was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing dove

Dictionary Entries Near dove

DOVAP

dove

dove's-foot

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Dove.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dove. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

dove

1 of 2 noun
ˈdəv How to pronounce dove (audio)
1
: any of numerous pigeons
especially : a small wild pigeon
2
: a person who opposes war or warlike policies
dovish
-ish How to pronounce dove (audio)
adjective

dove

2 of 2
ˈdōv How to pronounce dove (audio)

past and past participle of dive

More from Merriam-Webster on dove

Nglish: Translation of dove for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of dove for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about dove

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
little chihuahua dressing like a turkey for thanksgiving
Giving Thanks Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...