entry
dole
/doʊl/A portion given out, especially charitable aid
From Proto-Indo-European *dail- (To divide or apportion) + Latin doleō (To suffer or grieve).
from Proto-Germanic *dailan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *dailan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”)
from Middle English dol
from Middle English dol
from Middle English dol
from Old French doel (compare French deuil)
from Middle English dol
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *dailan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *dailan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”)
from Middle English dol
from Middle English dol
from Middle English dol
from Old French doel (compare French deuil)
from Middle English dol
Two different ancient ideas are hiding inside this short word. One dole began as a Germanic “portion,” the piece cut off and handed to someone; by the late 1200s, it could mean alms, and in Britain after 1919 it became the everyday name for government payments to unemployed people. The other dole traveled through Old French doel from Latin dolēre, “to grieve”—the same sorrowful family that gives us dolor and doleful. So “on the dole” and “doleful” are historical strangers wearing nearly identical coats. Picture a British worker in the 1920s collecting a regular payment: the word in his pocket meant a divided share, while its linguistic twin carried the sound of someone being torn apart by grief.
The Story
Two different ancient ideas are hiding inside this short word. One dole began as a Germanic “portion,” the piece cut off and handed to someone; by the late 1200s, it could mean alms, and in Britain after 1919 it became the everyday name for government payments to unemployed people. The other dole traveled through Old French doel from Latin dolēre, “to grieve”—the same sorrowful family that gives us dolor and doleful. So “on the dole” and “doleful” are historical strangers wearing nearly identical coats. Picture a British worker in the 1920s collecting a regular payment: the word in his pocket meant a divided share, while its linguistic twin carried the sound of someone being torn apart by grief.
Modern Usage
Unemployment benefits or public assistance, especially in Australian usage
Notable References
- dole bludger
- Centrelink
Kin & Kindred
From '*dail-'·To divide or apportion
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'doleō'·To suffer or grieve
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary