• doff •
Pronunciation: dahf • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: 1. Take off (some piece of clothing, usually a hat to show respect). 2. To put aside.
Notes: This word is the antonym of the adjective don. The present participle (doffing) serves as an adjective and noun for this verb, and a doffer is someone who removes the full bobbins or spindles in a spinning factory.
In Play: Doff and don are undeservedly clinging onto existence: "It won't take me a minute to doff these work clothes and don an outfit fit for public display." Doff is often used figuratively: "Marilyn was unwilling to doff her pride for even a few minutes and fetch the tea for the men at the station." The expression 'doff one's hat' may also be used figuratively to show respect: "I doff my hat to all of you who worked so hard to make this event successful."
Word History: Like don, today's Good Word started out as a contraction of 'do off', back when do meant "put, place", originating in PIE dhe-/dho- "put, place, set". This PIE word also went into the making of Sanskrit dadhati "places", Greek fetos "settled, having a place", Latin facere "to make, do, perform", Russian det' "put, place, do (with)" and odet' "put on, to dress", and Lithuanian dėti "to put, place". We also find this root in derivations like Serbian nedelja "Sunday" from ne "no(t)" + delo "work, business". Russian also changed the meaning of the PIE word in its delat' "do, make", origin of Russian delo "act, business". Some of the Germanic languages did the same for English do, German tun, and Dutch doen. (Now let's thank our longtime friend Lew Jury for his more than 100 published suggestions since 2006 and for spotting the fascinating usages and origin of today's Good Word and sharing them with us.)
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