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Origin and history of David

David

masc. proper name, in Old Testament name of the second king of Israel and Judah and author of psalms, from Hebrew Dawidh, literally "darling, beloved friend." The name was common in England and Scotland by 12c. but was popular much earlier in Wales. A nickname form was Dawe, hence surnames Dawson, Dawkins. A top 10 name for boys born in the U.S. from 1934 to 1992. Related: Davidic; Davidian.

Entries linking to David

davit(n.)

also david, "crane-like structure on the side or stern of a vessel for suspending or lowering a boat," late 14c., daviot, apparently a use of the masc. proper name David on the pattern of applying common Christian names to useful devices (compare jack, jenny, jimmy).

Taffy

characteristic name of a Welshman, c. 1700, from Teifi, Welsh form of Davy (see David).

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    worthy
    from late 14c. as a noun meaning "person of merit" (especially in Nine Worthies, famous men of history and legend: Joshua, David...
    Abigail
    In the Old Testament Abigail the Carmelitess was a wife of David....
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    The first reference in English to the Giant Panda is from 1901; since its discovery in 1869 by French missionary Armand David...
    syncretism
    1610s, from French syncrétisme (17c.) and directly from Modern Latin syncretismus (used by German Protestant theologian David...
    Bruce
    His son, a friend of David I, king of Scotland, was granted by him in 1124 the lordship of Annandale, and David's son, Robert...
    Rambo
    used allusively from 1985, in reference to John Rambo, hero of Canadian-American author David Morrell's novel "First Blood...
    Micawber
    a childishly impractical man living in optimistic fantasy, by 1852, from the character of Wilkins Micawber in Dickens' "David...
    Buddha
    an epithet applied to the historical founder of Buddhism, 1680s, from Pali, literally "awakened, enlightened," past participle of budh "to awake, know, perceive," which is related to Sanskrit bodhati "is awake, observes, understands," from PIE root *bheudh- "be aware, make aware.
    nylon
    1938, coined, according to DuPont, from a random generic syllable nyl- + -on, a common ending in fiber names (compare rayon and later Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton. "Consumer Reports" in 1939 called it "duPont's much-publicised new miracle yarn, which is scheduled to
    science
    mid-14c., "state or fact of knowing; what is known, knowledge (of something) acquired by study; information;" also "assurance of knowledge, certitude, certainty," from Old French science "knowledge, learning, application; corpus of human knowledge" (12c.), from Latin scientia "kn

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