Meanings
dove1
noundove (countable and uncountable, plural doves)
plural doves
- countableA pigeon, especially one smaller in size and white-colored; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than three hundred species of the family Columbidae.
Dove's brains have been prepared by chefs for amorous expectations.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 77Synonyms: culver
- countablegovernmentA person favouring conciliation and negotiation rather than conflict.
On the left are the activist Vietniks, eager to protest the war; next are the doves, who oppose the U.S. role but shun demonstrations; and in the middle are the apathetics, who simply are not concerned enough to think through their own stand.
1965 November 19, “Universities: The Spectrum on Viet Nam”, in Time, volume 86, number 21, page 67Synonyms: peace dove · Antonyms: hawk
- countableA term of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle.
O my dove, […] let me hear thy voice.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Song of Solomon 2:14 - countableuncountableA greyish, bluish, pinkish colour like that of the bird.
- abbreviationcountableellipsisslangEllipsis of love dove (“a tablet of the drug ecstasy”).
dove2
verb
- CanadaUSdialectalpastsimple past of dive
When coffee and cocoa prices unexpectedly dove, Côte d’Ivoire quickly went from Africa’s rich kid to crippling debtitude.
2007: Bob Harris, Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing up: A Woefully Incomplete Guide, §: Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire, page 80, ¶ 4 (first edition; Three Rivers Press; →ISBN) - nonstandardparticiplepastpast participle of dive
Dove3
proper nounDove (uncountable)
- uncountableA river in England, forming the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
- uncountableAn unincorporated community in Laclede County, Missouri, United States.
- uncountableA constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Caelum and Puppis.
- uncountableA surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA pigeon, especially one smaller in size and white-colored; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than three hundred species of the family Columbidae.
Similar
nounA person favouring conciliation and negotiation rather than conflict.
Similar
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
nounsomeone who prefers negotiations to armed conflict in the conduct of foreign relations
Similar
Opposite
Broader
nounflesh of a pigeon suitable for roasting or braising; flesh of a dove (young squab) may be broiled
Similar
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
dove · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-der.?
- Proto-Germanic*dūbaną?
- Proto-Germanic*dūbǭ
- Proto-West Germanic*dūbā
- Old English*dūfe
- Middle Englishdouve
- Englishdove
From Middle English douve, dove, duve, from Old English *dūfe (“dove, pigeon”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūbā, from Proto-Germanic *dūbǭ (“dove, pigeon”). Cognate with Scots doo, dow, Saterland Frisian Duuwe, West Frisian do, Dutch duif, Afrikaans duif, Sranan Tongo doifi, German Taube, German Low German Duuv, Dutch Low Saxon duve, doeve, Danish due, Faroese dúgva, Icelandic dúfa, Norwegian Bokmål due, Norwegian Nynorsk due, Swedish duva, Yiddish טויב (toyb), Gothic *𐌳𐌿𐌱𐍉 (*dubō).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →dove · verb
A modern formation of the strong conjugation, by analogy with drive → drove and weave → wove.
Full word history & related roots →Dove · proper noun
- Scottish Gaelic(mac) Calmáin“(son of the) dove”
- EnglishDove
* As an English surname, from the noun dove. * As a Scottish surname, calque of Scottish Gaelic (mac) Calmáin (“(son of the) dove”). Compare Coleman. * Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Duff. * As a north German surname, from the Low German adjective doof (“deaf”); see deaf.
More words from Scottish Gaelic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek περιστερά
- περιστερά (peristerá)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Arabic يَمَام, حَمَام
- يَمَام (yamām)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- حَمَام (ḥamām)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Basque urzo
- urzobird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Bengali ঘুঘু
- ঘুঘু (ghughu)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Bulgarian гъ́лъб, гълъбица
- гъ́лъб (gắlăb)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- гълъбица (gălăbica)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- гургулица (gurgulica)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- гълъбче (gălăbče)term of endearment
- гълъбичка (gălăbička)term of endearment
- гургуличка (gurgulička)term of endearment
Catalan colom
- colombird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Chinese Cantonese 白鴿 /白鸽
- 白鴿 /白鸽bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Chinese Mandarin 鴿子 /鸽子
- 鴿子 /鸽子 (gēzi)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Czech holub, hrdlička
- holubbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- hrdličkabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Danish due
- duebird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Dutch duif
- duifbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Esperanto kolombo
- kolombobird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Estonian tuvi
- tuvibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Finnish kyyhky, kyyhkynen
- kyyhkybird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- kyyhkynenbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- pulubird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- kyyhkypolitics: person favouring conciliation
- kyyhkyläinenterm of endearment
French colombe, pigeon
- colombebird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- pigeonbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- colombepolitics: person favouring conciliation
German Taube, Taube
- Taubebird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- Taubepolitics: person favouring conciliation
- Täubchenterm of endearment
Greek περιστέρι, περιστέρα
- περιστέρι (peristéri)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- περιστέρα (peristéra)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Hebrew יוֹנָה
- יוֹנָה (yoná)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Hindi कपोत, कबूतर
- कपोत (kapot)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- कबूतर (kabūtar)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- परेवा (parevā)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Hungarian galamb
- galambbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Icelandic dúfa
- dúfabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Indonesian merpati, burung merpati
- merpatibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- burung merpatibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- darabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- burung darabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- ketitiranbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Irish colm, fearán
- colmbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- fearánbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Italian colomba, piccione
- colombabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- piccionebird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Japanese 鳩
- 鳩 (hato)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Korean 비둘기
- 비둘기 (bidulgi)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Latin columba, columbus
- columbabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- columbusbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- turturbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Latvian balodis, dūja
- balodisbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- dūjabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Lithuanian balandis, karvelis
- balandisbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- karvelisbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Malay merpati
- merpatibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Māori kukupa
- kukupabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Norwegian Bokmål due, due
- duebird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- duepolitics: person favouring conciliation
- dueterm of endearment
Persian فاخته, کبوتر
- فاخته (fâxta)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- کبوتر (kabutar)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Polish gołąb
- gołąbbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Portuguese pombo, pomba
- pombobird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- pombabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Romanian porumbel
- porumbelbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Russian го́лубь, голу́бка
- го́лубь (gólubʹ)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- голу́бка (golúbka)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- го́рлица (górlica)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Scottish Gaelic calman, smùdan
- calmanbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- smùdanbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Slovak holub
- holubbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Spanish pichón, urpi
- pichónbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- urpibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- tortolitobird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- tortolitabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- totaquibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- urpilabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- torcacitabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Swahili njiwa
- njiwabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Swedish duva
- duvabird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Tagalog kalapati
- kalapatibird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Tamil புறா
- புறா (puṟā)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Thai นกเขา
- นกเขา (nok khao)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Turkish güvercin, kumru
- güvercinbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- kumrubird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Ukrainian го́луб, голу́бчик
- го́луб (hólub)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
- голу́бчик (holúbčyk)term of endearment
- голу́бка (holúbka)term of endearment
- голу́бочка (holúbočka)term of endearment
Vietnamese bồ câu
- bồ câubird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Welsh colomen
- colomenbird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Yiddish טויב
- טויב (toyb)bird of the family Columbidae, especially one smaller than a pigeon — see also pigeon
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dove
ofloveabovegrovethereofcovedroveglovestovegovrovehereofhoveshovetroveclovemauvewhereofJovegovewoveshrovebruvArnold's Cove
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
dove. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dove
MLA
“dove.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dove. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dove,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dove.
Source: dove on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.