dulbert

Scots

Etymology

From earlier Middle Scots dowbart (c. 1513). The first element likely derives from Middle English dult (“dull”) (a variant of dulled, dold), or directly from Middle English dull; the second one is possibly derived from Middle English berd (“beard”), bard, in the same vein as German Dummbart (“idiot”) (dumm (“dumb”) +‎ Bart (“beard”)).

Noun

dulbert (plural dulberts)

1. a fool; an idiot

Further reading

• “dulbert, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.