Dorothy

English

Etymology

The English form of Latin Dorothea, the name of a legendary saint, from Ancient Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), from δῶρον (dôron, “gift”) + θεός (theós, “god”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒɹ.ə.θi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɹ.ə.θi/, /ˈdɔɹ.θi/
• (New York City) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑɹ.ə.θi/

Proper noun

Dorothy

1. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], signature [D4], recto:

     Piſt[ol]. Then, to you miſtris Dorothy, I will charge you. / Doro[thy]. Charge me? I ſcorne you, ſcuruy companion: […]

   • 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “How Dorothy saved the Scarecrow”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC, page 38:

     "My name is Dorothy," said the girl, "and I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the great Oz to send me back to Kansas."

   • 1990, Russell Baker, There's a Country in My Cellar, Morrow, →ISBN, page 418:

     Don't you think the world has gone steadily downhill ever since parents stopped naming their children Lucy and Dorothy and started naming them Samantha?

Derived terms

• doll
• Dorothy Dix

 

Related terms

pet forms

• Dodie
• Doll
• Dolly
• Dot
• Dottie

 

variants

• Dora
• Doreen
• Dorothea
• Thea

 

Translations

female given name

• Abenaki: Toloti
• Armenian: Դորոթեա (Dorotʻea)
• Catalan: Dorotea
• Cherokee: ᏙᎶᏘ (doloti)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多蘿西 / 多萝西 (Duōluóxī)

• Czech: Dorota (cs) f
• Danish: Dorthea
• Esperanto: Doroteo
• Estonian: Tiiu
• Faroese: Dorotea f, Dortea f, Durita f, Duruta f, Tea f
• Finnish: Tea (fi), Teija (fi)
• French: Dorothée (fr) f
• Galician: Dorotea
• German: Dorothea (de) f
• Greek: Δωροθέα (el) f (Dorothéa)
• Hungarian: Dorottya (hu)
• Inuktitut: ᑑᕈᑎ (tooroti)
• Italian: Dorotea (it) f
• Japanese: ドロテア (Dorotea), ドロシー (Doroshī)
• Latin: Dorothea f
• Latvian: Doroteja f
• Lithuanian: Dorotėja f
• Polish: Dorota (pl) f
• Portuguese: Doroteia (pt) f
• Russian: Дороте́я f (Dorotéja), До́роти (ru) f (Dóroti) (transliteration)
• Spanish: Dorotea (es) f
• Swedish: Dorotea (sv)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Dorothy.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈdoɾoti/ [ˌd̪oː.ɾoˈt̪i]
• Rhymes: -oɾoti
• Syllabification: Do‧ro‧thy

Proper noun

Dórothý (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜓᜇᜓᜆᜒ)

1. a female given name from English