Etymology

doily

D2O1I1L1Y4

Today it means: A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food. Full definition →

Old French oeil
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromoeil“eye”
  2. English todaydoily

From Doiley, the name of a 17th-century London draper. The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (“eye”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.