Wiktionary

donkey

English

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Etymology

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The origin is uncertain. Originally a slang term from the late eighteenth century. Perhaps fromMiddle English*donekie(“a miniature dun horse”),a double diminutive ofMiddle Englishdon,dun,dunne(a name for a dun horse),equivalent to modernEnglishdun(“brownish grey colour”)+-ock(diminutive suffix)+-ie(diminutive suffix).CompareMiddle Englishdonning(“a dun horse”),Englishdunnock.Became more common than the original termassdue to the latter's homophony and partial merger witharse(compare similar development betweenconeyandrabbit).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Donkey

donkey(pluraldonkeysor(obsolete)donkies)

  2. Adomesticanimal,Equus asinus asinus,similar to ahorse.
    • 1776August 24, “[untitled]”,inIpswich Journal‎[1],Ipswich, Suffolk, page 1:
      Lost last Saturday between twenty and thirty shillings they that have found it please to leave it heare there is five shillings reward by Wm. Roberts that goeth with aDonkeywith many thanks
    • 1785,Anonymous[Francis Grose],A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue‎[2],London: S. Hooper:
      DONKEY,donkeydick, a he, or jack ass, calleddonkey,perhaps from the Spanish, or don like gravity of that animal, entitled also the king of Spain's trumpeter
    • 2013November 17, Robert Frost,Delphi Collected Works of Robert Frost (Illustrated)(Delphi Poets Series)‎[3],Delphi Classics,→ISBN,→OCLC:
      I vow we must be near the place from where
      The two converging slides, the avalanches,
      On Marshall, look likedonkey's ears.
      We may as well see that and save the day.”
      “Don'tdonkey's ears suggest we shake our own?
      'For God's sake, aren't you fond of viewing nature?[…]
  3. Astubbornperson.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:stubborn person
  4. Afool.
    Synonyms:seeThesaurus:fool
  5. (nautical)A smallauxiliaryengine.
    Synonym:donkey engine
  6. (navalslang,dated)Aboxorchest,especially atoolbox.
  7. (pokerslang)A badpokerplayer.
  8. Britishsea term for asailor's storagechest.
    • 1903,W. H. Hood,The Blight of Insubordination‎[4],page80:
      The chest may be found among those who stick to the sailing vessels, but for the steamer, the donkey died its natural death when the Suez Canal—responsible for many changes at sea—became an accomplished fact.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • →Afrikaans:donkie
  • →Northern Sotho:tonki
  • →Tok Pisin:donki
  • →Urdu:ڈَنْکی(ḍaṅkī)

Translations

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See also

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References

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  • (box or chest):1930,Naval Review (London)(volume 18, page 592)

Further reading

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