Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito.
Meanings
A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.
He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous […] 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
It is almost impossible for anyone who loves boats not to rejoice at the sight of a St. Pierre dory. Gaily painted, with lots of sheer and a defiantly jaunty look to them, the dories have been pleasing the eyes of their beholders for nearly a century. 1978 March, Steven H. Rubin, “The St. Pierre Dory: An Endangered Species”, in Boating, volume 43, number 3, →ISSN, page 72:
John Wesley Powell […] the one-armed Civil War veteran led nine men in four wooden dories down the untamed and uncharted Colorado River and into the equally untamed and uncharted Grand Canyon. 2013 November 27, John Grotzinger, “The world of Mars [print version: International Herald Tribune Magazine, 2013, page 36]”, in The New York Times:
The dory, and the fisherman who rowed it, are part of the maritime heritage that changed America from a group of shore-bound colonies to a nation with ships that ranged the waters of the world. 1960 February, John Gardner, “The Remarkable Dory: This Boat has Served Sailormen Well, and Many of Today's Able Pleasurecraft are Direct Descendants of the Line”, in Popular Boating, volume 7, number 2, →OCLC, page 90:
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. 1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:
A dory, by definition, is a flat-bottomed boat with two pointed (or nearly pointed) ends. The traditional dories of the Pacific City fleet were just that. Over the years, however, they have evolved into the square-stern variety seen today. 2008, Jeanna Rosembalm Bottenberg, The Dory Fleet of Pacific City, Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 41:
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
dories
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (6)
fr doris (type of boat) · de Dory (type of boat) · mi paneke (type of boat) · de Doriboot (type of boat) · ga dóraí (type of boat) · de Dorie (type of boat)
From Middle English dorry, from Old French doree, past participle of dorer (“to gild”), from Latin deauratus.
Meanings
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 1800, “Copy of an Original Manuscript, Entitled, 'A Breviate Touching the Order and Governmente of a Nobleman's House', &c. Communicated by the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K.B. P.R.S. and F.S.A.”, in Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, volume XIII, London: Society of Antiquaries of London, →OCLC, page 353:
Pan-fried fish. Barramundi, bream, flounder, garfish, John Dory, snapper and Silver Dory are suitable for this recipe. 2012, Shirley Cameron, Cooking the Australian Way, 8th edition, South Yarra, Vic.: Macmillan Education Australia, →ISBN, page 265:
The golden skin of the fish found mostly in the Mediterranean may account for one possible reason why it is called ‘John Dory’, since the French word for yellow is ‘jaune’ and for golden is ‘dorée’. 2012, Martin Hannan, Harvey Wallbangers and Tam O’Shanters: A Book of Eponyms – The People Who Inspired the Words We Use Every Day, London: John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:
PIE word
*dóru
Borrowed from Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru).
Meanings
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 principal offensive weapon of the hoplite was his spear (dory). Conquered territory was said to be 'spear-won'. 2000, Nick Sekunda, Greek Hoplite: 480–323 BC (Osprey Military, Warrior Series; 27), Oxford: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 12:
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. 1990, Richard A. Gabriel, The Culture of War: Invention and Early Development (Contributions in Military Studies; 96), New York, N.Y.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 89:
Sadly, the Greeks' weapons have succumbed to erosion; yet all are single-handed and one figure is striking overhead with left leg forward consistent with the use of a dory. 2012, Fred Eugene Ray, Jr., Greek and Macedonian Land Battles of the 4th Century B.C.: A History and Analysis of 187 Engagements, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 90:
The principal weapon of the hoplite was the dory spear. It was unusually long – it could measure up to 10ft (3m) in length, and weighed about 4.4lb (2kg). At one end was a broad, leaf-pattern spearhead, while at the other end was a metal spike called a sauroter. The purpose of the spike is much debated: it almost certainly acted as a counterbalance, making the spear easier to hold and wield; it could have been used as an improvised spear point, or for making downward attacks on the enemy's exposed feet; or it might even have been embedded in the ground to keep the spear in place. 2011 (republished 2014 as an e-book), Chris McNab, A History of the World in 100 Weapons, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, page 37