English
doily
Doily comes from Old French ueil ‘eye’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *okʷ(e)los.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)losreconstructed
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculus‘eye’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEoclus‘syncopated form of oculus (“eye”)’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ueilas oeil‘eye’
- Englishearliest quotation 1920doily
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)losreconstructed
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculus‘eye’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEoclus‘syncopated form of oculus (“eye”)’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ueilas oeil‘eye’
- Englishearliest quotation 1920doily
Earliest quotation: 1920, Sinclair Lewis, Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott: “She looked polite, and observed the oiled floors, hard-wood…”
The story
The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (‘eye’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’
eye, anthropology, optics, ogle, synoptic, awk, anthropoid, 38 more
through Classical Latin oculus ‘eye’
Today it means
noun A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *okʷ(e)los / doily