dave

D2A1V4E1
/deɪv//dəveɪ/

verb

To assuage; soften; mitigate; relieve; calm; alleviate (pain).

OriginMiddle English deven ← Old English dēafian ← Old Norse deyfa →
Very commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

dave1

verbdave (third-person singular simple present daves, present participle daving, simple past and past participle daved)

present singular third person daves · participle present daving · participle past daved · past daved · alternative daive · alternative deave · alternative deve

  1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo assuage; soften; mitigate; relieve; calm; alleviate (pain).

Dave2

proper noun
  1. A diminutive of the male given name David, also used as a formal given name.

    David, with its final "d", sounds finished and complete, whereas Dave just kind of hangs there in the air, indefinitely. - - - Worse, if your name is Dave, the only possible nickname is "Davey", which makes you sound like you should be wearing a coonskin cap.

    1994, Caroline Knapp, The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays, Counterpoint Press, published 2004, →ISBN, pages 169, 170
    1 more example

    Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said he would send two customers to tour a former Nazi concentration camp after they allegedly engaged in antisemitic behavior at a Barstool pub in Philadelphia, then later retracted that offer for at least one of them because he said the person was denying responsibility for what happened.

    2025 May 5, “Barstool Sports founder retracts Auschwitz tour offer to customer in antisemitic sign incident”, in Associated Press, archived from the original on 07 May 2025
  2. A surname from Gujarati from Gujarati દવે (dave, “(one who has studied) two Vedas”).
  3. rareA female given name.

Origin

  1. Old Norsedeyfa“to make deaf, make blunt, numb, soothe, allay”
  2. Old Englishdēafian“to wax or become deaf”
  3. Middle Englishdeven
  4. Englishdave

From Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), from Old English dēafian (“to wax or become deaf”) and Old Norse deyfa (“to make deaf, make blunt, numb, soothe, allay”). Cognate with dialectal Norwegian døyva (“to deafen, make dull”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian Дейв
  • Дейв (Dejv)male given name
Greek Ντέιβ
  • Ντέιβ (Ntéiv)male given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with dave

savewaveslavecavegraveWAVbravefavebehaveraveshavewaivepavecravenavestavesuaveclaveengraveMaeveenslaveknavelavetrave
All rhymes →

Anagrams

devavedavadeEDVA
Cite this entry
APA

dave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dave

MLA

“dave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dave. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dave,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dave.

Source: dave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.