dove

1 of 2

noun

ˈdəv 

1

: any of numerous pigeons

especially : a small wild pigeon

2

: a gentle woman or child

3

: one who takes a conciliatory attitude and advocates negotiations and compromise

especially : an opponent of war compare hawk entry 1

dovish

ˈdə-vish 

adjective

dovishness noun

dove

2 of 2

ˈdōv 

past tense of dive

Synonyms

Noun

• pacifist
• peacenik

Examples of dove in a Sentence

Noun

The President sided with the doves and worked to avoid war.

the doves were in favor of using the surplus to improve the nation's schools and not its weapons systems

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Scientists previously weren’t always sure how these rings were being made, and the 2023 study dove into the mechanism using computer simulations, according to National Geographic’s Robin George Andrews. —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Apr. 2024

Posted on her socials Thursday (April 4), the snapshot finds the rapper posing in platform heels, a barely-there bikini bottom and an angelic veil held up in the back by two helper doves. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024

Chapman dove to his left, coming up empty, but Ahmed picked the ball ranging to his right, forcing Rojas to remain at third. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024

Another local artist, Howard Connelly, crafted a metal bird sculpture to place on top of the phone stand, and the phone was then ready for users to call up the sounds of wood ducks, kingfishers and mourning doves. —Cathy Free, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2024

Mostly residents of the Southwestern desert, white-winged doves are known to wander and have popped up in places as far-flung as Alaska or Ontario. —Cecilia Garzella, USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024

Early enrollee Ny Carr - rated by 247 Sports as the No. 21 receiver and No. 98 overall prospect in the 2024 class - dove to catch a pass from Emory Williams, beating early enrollee safety Zaquan Patterson. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024

Mourning doves are found in a wide variety of places but avoid unbroken forests. —Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Mar. 2024

But compared to the round dome-like Panettone, Colomba's shape resembles a dove, symbolizing a message of hope. —Irene S. Levine, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English duve, douve, dowe, probably going back to Old English *dūfe and a shortened form *dufe, going back to Germanic *dūƀōn- (whence also Old Frisian dūwe "dove," Old Saxon dūƀa, Middle Dutch duve, Old High German tūba, Old Icelandic dúfa, Gothic -dubo, in hraiwadubo "turtledove"), of uncertain origin

Note: The modern English outcome with [ʌ] presupposes shortening of (or variation with) a Middle English form with ọ̄, itself presupposing Old English ŭ affected by Middle English open-syllable lengthening. Middle English spellings such as douve, however, would seem to require an Old English long vowel, as do the Germanic cognates. These issues were pointed out by E. J. Dobson (English Pronunciation, 1500-1700, 2. edition, Oxford, 1968, p. 514), who follows the Oxford English Dictionary's suggestion that the noun is related to Old English dūfan "to dive, plunge (into a liquid)" (see dive entry 1) and that the forms with long and short u reflect different ablaut grades of dūfan (a class II strong verb). Essentially the same solution, without the discussion of the English details, is proposed by G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Brill, 2013). The difficulty with this hypothesis is that the noun in Germanic languages uniformly means "dove, pigeon," not an aquatic bird. Another proposal associates *dūƀōn- with the Celtic etymon of Old Irish dub "dark, black," Old Welsh dub, Welsh du, on the assumption that a dove is "the dark bird." But such a source, usually derived, together with Germanic *dauƀa- "deaf, senseless" (see deaf) and Greek typhlós "blind, dark," from Indo-European *d^hub^h-, *d^heu̯b^h-, could not regularly produce a long u. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the etymological successor to the Oxford English Dictionary, abandons the dive connection and says simply "presumed to be imitative of the bird's note."

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dove

• dove for cover
• mourning dove
• ringed turtle dove
• rock dove

Kids Definition

dove

1 of 2 noun

ˈdəv 

1

: any of numerous pigeons

especially : a small wild pigeon

2

: a person who opposes war or warlike policies

dovish

-ish 

adjective

dove

2 of 2

ˈdōv 

past and past participle of dive