Everyday LifeGreek → English
Dorothy
/ˈdɔːrəθi/proper noun
A female given name.
The Greek roots
δῶρον
dôron
gift
θεός
theós
god
Literally: “gift of god”
The story of the word
Theodora is the same two words in the other order, so a Dora and a Thea can be one name cut in half from opposite ends. The name spread through the cult of Dorothea of Caesarea, a fourth-century martyr, and peaked in English-speaking countries in the 1920s. δῶρον also builds Isidore, gift of Isis, and Pandora, who came with all the gifts.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
TheodorePandoraIsidoretheology
In a sentence
Dorothy signed the letter with her full name, which she never did.