dogberry

dogberry · noun¹

See dogwood and berry. Compare also dog rose. Compare German Hundbeere (“bittersweet”), Ancient Greek κυνόσβατος (kunósbatos, “evergreen rose”), Lithuanian šùnobelė (“buckthorn”), Italian mela canina (“mandrake”).

Dogberry · noun²

From Dogberry, the name of a character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1600).

First known use, by meaning

• from 19th c. A pompous, foolish or self-important official.