dodecastyle 
dodecastyle (do'dek-u-stil), a. and H. [< Gr. 
iturStKH, twelve, + nrii'Mf, a column: see /rfyte 2 .] 
1. a. In iti'fl/., havine; twelve columnH in front: 
said of a portico, ((.. 
II. a. A portico having twelve columns in 
Trout. 
dodecasyllabic (d6*dek-a-si-lab'ik), a. [< do- 
i/iriixi/l/iib-le + -c.] Containing twelve syl- 
Inliles. 
dodecasyllable (do'dek-a-sira-bl), . [< Gr. 
AuAcKa, twelve, + av^\afiri, a syllable : see syl- 
lable.] A word of twelve syllables. 
dodecatemorion (do'dek-a-te-mo'ri-on), n. 
[LL., < Gr. AuScKaT}ju6ptov, a twelfth part, < 6u- 
SfKaroc, twelfth (< iuotKa, twelve), -r /i6ptov, a 
part.] A twelfth part. [Rare.] 
dodecatemory (doMek-a-tem'6-ri), n. [< LL. 
dodecatemorion, < Gr. 6udeKani/i6pun>: see dodeca- 
tcinorimi.] A twelfth part: a terra formerly 
sometimes used for a sign of the zodiac, as 
being the twelfth part of a circle. 
Dodecatheon (do-de-kath'e-on), . [NL.,< L. 
<lo(lecatheo>i, an herb, so called after tne twelve 
greater gods, < Gr. e!<Meica, twelve, + feiif, a 
god.] A North American genus of primula- 
ceous plants, much resembling the cyclamen 
of Europe. They are smooth perennials, with a rosette 
nf radical leaves ainl an upright scape hearing an umbel of 
handsome purple or white nodding flowers. The more 
common eastern species, 1). Meadia, la known as nhimtin;/- 
stnr. Tliero are several other very similar species of the 
western coast, from California to Alaska, 
dodecuplet (do-dek'u-plet), . [< Gr. iMena, 
twelve, + -u-ple, as in quintuple, octuple, etc., 
4- -et. Cf . octuplet.] In music, a group of twelve 
notes to be performed in the time of eight. 
dodge (doj), v. ; pret. and pp. dodyed, ppr. dodg- 
ing. [First recorded in early mod. E. ; perhaps 
(the term, -ye being appar. due to a ME. form 
"dodieit, *dodycn; of. soldier, pron. sol 'jer) con- 
nected with So. ilml, jog, North. E. dad, shake, 
whence the freq. forms dodder, doddle, dadder, 
daddle; cf. didder, diddle!.] I. intrans. 1. To 
start suddenly aside ; shift place by a sudden 
start, as to evade a blow or escape observation. 
As I am an old fox-hunter, I should have turned and 
dml'icd, and have played them a thousand tricks they 
had never seen in their lives hefore. 
Addimn, Sir Roger at the Play. 
2. To shift about; move cautiously, as in 
avoiding discovery, or in following and watch- 
ing another's movements : as, he dodged along 
byways and hedges ; the Indians dodged from 
tree to tree. 
For he had, any time this ten years full, 
Dodged with him, hetwixt Cambridge and the Bull. 
Milltm, Ep. Hohson, i. 
3f. To play tricks ; be evasive ; play fast and 
loose ; raise expectations and disappoint them ; 
quibble. 
Now I must 
To the young man semi humble treaties, dodge 
And palter in the shifts of lowness. 
Shak., A. and C., ill. 9. 
You know my passion for Martha, and what a dance 
she hits led me ; she dodged with me above thirty years. 
Addison. 
4. To jog; walk in a slow, listless, or clumsy 
manner. [Colloq., North. Eug.] 
II. trans. 1. To evade by a sudden shift of 
place, or by trick or device ; escape by starting 
aside, or by baffling or roundabout movements: 
as, to dodge a blow ; to dodge a pursuer or a 
creditor ; to dodge u perplexing question. 
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist ! 
And still it near d and near'd : 
As if it iliiil'ii'it u water-sprite, 
It plunged, and tacked, and veered. 
Culrridge, Ancient Mariner, iii. 
It might have begun otherwise or elsewhere, but war 
was in the minds and bones of the combatants, it was 
written on the iron leaf, and you might as easily dodge 
Kttu'itution, /;//,. /-.urn, Emancipation Proelamati.ni. 
2. To play fast and loose with; baffle by shifts 
and pretexts ; trick. [Colloq.] 
He dodged me with a long and loose account. 
/'< mtitxim, Sea Dreams. 
1717 
A scurvy haggler, a lousy dmli/er, or a cruel extortioner. 
i ;,i,/, ,1,. . 
Tie had a rather tlighty and dissolute mode of convers- 
ing, and furthermore avowed that among hts intimate 
friends he was . . . known by the sobriquet of "The Art- 
fill Dodger." Diekent, Oliver Twist, viii. 
2. A small handbill distributed in the streets 
or other public places. [U. 8.] 
A number of printed dodgert were distributed in differ- 
ent parts of the city, and also jiosted on the doors of all 
houses occupied by the Chinese. 
J'hiladelj'hia Tiiiift, Sept. 28, 1886. 
3. Same as corn-dodger, [U. 8.] 
dodgery (doj'er-i), . [< dodge + -ery.] Trick- 
ery ; a trick. 
When he had put this dodgery upon those that gaped 
for the vacancy, it was a feast of laughter to him. 
Bp. llacket, Aim. Williams, p. 98. 
dodgilyt (doj'i-li), adv. [< dodgy + -lyt.] Art- 
fully ; cunningly. 
The Ewercr strains water Into his basins, on the up|>er 
one of which is a towel folded dodyily. 
Babeet Book (E. E. T. 8.), p. 323, note. 
dodgy (doj'i), a. [< dodge + -yl.] Disposed to 
dodge ; evasive ; artful ; cunning. 
dodipatet, doddypatet (dod'i-pat), n. [< ME. 
(ludi/pate, equiv. to dodipoll, both meaning 
'dodded' (i. e., shaven) head, in contemptuous 
reference to the priestly tonsure; < rforfl, ME. 
dodden, shear, shave, -I- pate.] Same as dodi- 
poll. 
dodipoll, doddypoll (dod'i-pol), n. [Also writ- 
ten dodipole, doddipole, doddypolc, dottipolt, 
ME. dottypol, equiv. to dodipate, q. v. ; < rforf 1 , 
ME. dodden, shear, shave, + poll, head.] A 
stupid person ; a thickhead. 
Rome will say, our curate is naught, an asse-head, a dotli- 
poU. Latiiner, 3d Sermon bef. Edw. VI. 
This Noah was laughed to scorn ; they, like dodipoltH, 
laughed this godly father to scorn. 
Latimer, Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1550. 
dodkin (dod'kin), n. [Also written dotlciti; 
var. of doitkin: see doitkin.~\ See doitkin. 
dodinant (dod'man), n. [Early mod. E. ; origin 
obscure. Also called hodmandod, q. v.] 1. 
An animal that casts its she.ll, like the lobster 
and crab. 
A sely dodman crepe. Bp. Dale, Kynge .lohan, p. 7. 
2. A shell-snail. 
dodo (do'do), n. [< Pg. doudo, a dodo, < dovtln, 
doido, a simpleton, a fool, < doudo, doido, adj., 
simple, foolish. According to Diez, this word, 
which is unknown in Spanish, came from Eng- 
land (t): E. dial. (Devon) dold, stupid, con- 
fused : see dolt. Cf. booby, a bin! so named for 
a similar reason. The bird was also named by 
the Dutch (1) walgh-vogel, now walg^vogel, lit. 
'nauseous bird'; also (2) dod-acrs, lit. 'dead- 
arse,' "propter foedam posterioris partis cras- 
sitiem" (note dated 1626), or because of some 
resemblance to the dabchick or little grebe, 
which was also so called ; also (3) dronte ( > Dan. 
dronte = 8w. dront); origin unknown. The 
NL. name is didus, 8p. dido : see Ztds.] A 
recently extinct bird of Mauritius, Didus inej>- 
dodge (<loj), ii. [< dodge, .] A shifty or ingen- 
ious trick ; an artifice ; an evasion. 
Smile, ulm ha\v 1 1.1-1 for good living, have many harm- 
less arts, by which they improve their banquet, and iiino- 
MntdMM*, if we may bi' permitted to DM an excellent 
phrase that lias boooOM vernacular since the appearance 
of the last dictionaries. IvCutaray. 
In the friction of competition, expedients which their 
successful deliver thinks fair enough may become dotliffg 
in the eyes of his fellows, who had not happened to think 
of them. 
.In A. /.',,, !*, s,, menus ,,f some Continents, p. 84. 
dodger (doj'iV), H. [< dodge + --l.] 1. One 
who doilgrs or <>v:i<le.s ; one who practises artful 
shifts or dodges. 
Uodo (DMus iftfftHs;. 
From a painting in the Belvedere. Vienna. 
tun, the type of the family Dididtt and suborder 
IHdi, now usually assigned to the order Columbic. 
The dodo was living in Mauritius on the discovery of that 
island by the Portuguese under Mascarenhas in the be- 
ginning of the sixteenth century, and it 1s known to have 
survived until July, 1681. Knowledge of -the bird was 
for some time confined to the quaint and often question- 
able narratives of voyagers, certain pictures, mostly by 
Dutch artists, and a few fragmentary remains. In 1866 
bones in abundance were found, and the osseous structure 
has been described in detail. The dodo was a massive, 
clumsy, flightless, and defenseless bird, about as large as 
a swan, covered with downy feathers, with a very stout 
hooked bill, short strong legs, short tail, and wings too 
small for flight; so that it soon suceumlwd under the 
new conditions which the occupation of the island intro- 
duced, its extinction being probably due a- much to the 
animals which man introduced as to the human invaders 
of the island. The solitaire (Fezophaps soiitarius) of Rod- 
riguez, an island of the same group, was similar to the 
dodo, but sutVicicntly distinct to i>e placed in a different 
genus. (See mlitaire.) The neighlwring island of Reunion 
or Bourbou also had a dodo, in all probability a third kind. 
does 
You shall receue ... a strange fowlc : which I had at 
the Hand Mauritius called by y Portingalls a Do Do: 
which for the rareness thereof I hope wilbe welcome to 
you. Kmanufl Altham, letter written In 1688. 
(This U the earliest known English mention of the bird. J 
The Dodo comes first to a description : hero and in Dygar- 
mis [Rodriguez] (and no where else, that I ever could see 
or hearo of) is generated the Doda (a Portuguize name it 
U, and has reference to her simpleness), a Bird which for 
shape and rareness might be call'd a i'liu-nix (wer 't In 
Arabia). Sir T. Herbert, Travels (ed. 1S88). 
Dodonaean (do-do-ne'an), a. [< L. Dodoiueut, 
< Dodona, < Or. Audvivv, Dodona.] Of or per- 
taining to the ancient town of Dodona, beneath 
Mount Tomarus in Epirus, and to the famed 
sanctuary and oracle of Zeus (Jupiter) seated 
in a grove of oaks at that place. The oracle was 
one of the most ancient of the Greeks, and ranked with 
those of Delphi in Greece and of Zeus Ammon In Libya 
as one of the three in highest repute. Recent excavations 
on the site have brought to light a rich collection of works 
of art, particularly of small bronzes, and a large number 
of Inscriptions, many of them on leaden plates. Also 
written Dodoiuiian, Dodoliian. 
The wreath of wild olive distinguishes the Olympian 
from the Dodaiuean Jupiter, who has the crown of oak- 
leaves. C. 0. MuUer, Manual of Arducol. (trans.), 1 350. 
It is in the great prayer, where Achilles addresses Zeus 
as Dodtmaian and Pelasgic. 
Contemjiorary Rev., LIII. 186. 
dodrans (do'dranz), n. [L., contr. of 'dequa- 
drans, three fourths, lit. less one fourth, < de, 
away, + quadrans, a fourth: see quadrant.] 
1. In Rom. metrology, three fourths; especially, 
three fourths of a Roman foot, equal to 8.73 
English inches. 2. An ancient Roman coin. 
dodnun (dod'rum), n. [Sc. Cf. rforf 2 .] A 
whim ; a crotchet. Jamieson. 
Ne'er fash your head wi' your father's dodnun*. 
Oalt, The Entail, III. 21. 
doe 1 (do), . [< ME. doo, do, earlier da, < AS. 
da, (once, glossing L. "damma vel dammula") 
= Dan. daa, in comp. daa-dyr (dijr = E. deer), 
deer, fallow deer, daa-liind (hind = E. hind), 
doe, daa-hjort (lijort = E. hart), buck, daa-kalv 
(kalv = E. calf), fawn, = Sw. doj-, in comp. 
oof -hind, a doe, dof-hjort, a buck, = OHG. tamo, 
ddmo, MHG. tame, G. dam-, in comp. dam-bock 
(bock = E. buck), dam-hirsch (hirnch = E. hart), 
dam-thier (thier = E. deer), dain-irild, dann-, 
tttnn-wild (wild = E. iri/rf), a deer, = F. daim, m., 
deer, daine, {., doe, = Pr. dam = Sp. dama = 
It. daino, m., daina, f., damma, t., \ L. dama, 
damma, (f., used also as m.), a deer, prob. con- 
7iected with domare = E. tame, q. v. The AS., 
Scand., and mod. G. forms are variously altered 
from the normal form in their derivation from 
the L. dama. The native AS. word is hind: 
see Ai'wd 1 .] 1. The female of the deer (the 
feminine corresponding to buck) and of most 
antelopes. 
There might men does ami roes yse, 
And of squyrels ful gret plente. 
Ham. of the Rose, 1. 1401. 
It was a stag, a stag of ten, 
Hearing his branches sturdily ; . . . 
It was there he met with a wounded doe, 
She was bleeding deathfully. 
Scott, L. of the L., Iv. 25. 
2. The female of the hare or rabbit, 
doe'-'t, ". and H. An obsolete spelling of do 1 . 
doe 3 (do), n. [Sc.; origin obscure.] The 
wooden ball used in the game of shinty. Also 
called lifnc i. 
doe-bird, . See dough-bird. 
Doedicurus (de-di-ku'rus), . [NL., prop. *Dee- 
dycurus, < Gr. Aoiivf (Aoiivx-), a pestle, + ovpa, 
tail.] A genus of glvptodons or fossil arma- 
dillos, having only three digits on the fore 
feet and four on the hind. JO. giganteuy is the 
typical species, from the Pleistocene of South 
America. Burmeister, 1875. 
doer (do'er), . [< ME. doer, doere, < AS. doere, 
< don, do: see do 1 .] 1. One who does some- 
thing ; one who performs or executes ; an effi- 
cient actor or agent. 
If we should now excommunicate all such wicked doert, 
tli- ie would be much ado in England. 
Latimer, 2d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1560. 
The doert of the law shall bo justified. Rom. ii. 13. 
Tut, tut, my lord, we will not stand to prate : 
Talkers are no good doen. Shak., Rich. III., I. S. 
Thy story I'll have written, and in gold too, 
In prose and verse, and by the ablest doert. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, Iv. 2. 
Specifically 2. In Scots law, an agent or at- 
torney. 
does (duz). [Early mod. E. also dooeg, do's, < 
M !',. ilos, dug, commonlv doth, deth : see do 1 , p.] 
The third person singular of the present indica- 
tive of the verb do. See do 1 . 
