Etymograph

English

doff

Doff comes from Middle English doffen ‘to take off (clothing)’, from Old English dōn ‘to do’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic two
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dōną‘to do, make’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dōn‘to do’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōn‘to do’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150dōn of‘to take off (remove)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500do off
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500doffen‘to take off (clothing)’contraction of do off
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595doff

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic two
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dōną‘to do, make’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dōn‘to do’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōn‘to do’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150dōn of‘to take off (remove)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500do off
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500doffen‘to take off (clothing)’contraction of do off
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595doff

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, London: […] Thomas Creede: “[…] Romeo doffe thy name, / And for thy…”

Equivalent to do + off

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put’

Proto-Germanic *dōną ‘to do’

Proto-West Germanic *dōn ‘to do’

Old English dōn ‘to do’

Middle English don

English do

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep

…

Proto-West Germanic *ab

Old English æf ‘of’

Old English of ‘from’

Middle English of

English off

The story

The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (‘to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming’), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (‘to do; to put; to take off, remove’) + of (‘from; off’). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (‘to do; to place, put’), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (‘to do; to make; to place, put’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (‘to do; to place, put’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, feature, mid, theme, defence, custom, ethnic, treasury, treasure, sufficient, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, defendant, feast, synthetic, theology, tick, deed, dis, atheist, ethic, auditorium, auditor, atheism, doom, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, feral, 129 more

through Proto-West Germanic *dōn ‘to do’

overdone, 2 more

through Old English dōn ‘to do’

do, done, overdo, 3 more

Today it means

verb To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / doff

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