douve (Middle English)

Where does "douve" come from?

The Middle English noun 'douve', meaning a dove, pigeon, or similar bird, as well as an affectionate term of familiarity, was inherited from Old English '*dūfe'[1]. This Old English form traces back through Proto-West Germanic '*dūbā' and ultimately derives from Proto-Germanic '*dūbǭ'[2].

Open questions

• The Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic forms are reconstructed rather than directly attested. [2]

Full etymology tree

• douve (Middle English), 'A dove, pigeon, or similar bird.'
  • inherited *dufe (Old English), 'dove, pigeon'
    • inherited *dūbā (Proto-West Germanic), 'dove, pigeon'
      • inherited *dūbǭ (Proto-Germanic), 'dove, pigeon'

Descendants and derived words

• dove (English)
• dove (English)
• dow (Middle English)

Sources

1. douve (Middle English) - Wiktionary
2. dufe (Old English) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris