dovecote

English

WOTD – 24 December 2011

Etymology

A dovecote (sense 1) with birds.

From dove +‎ cote.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌvkɒt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌvkɑt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dove‧cote

Noun

dovecote (plural dovecotes)

1. A small house or box, often raised to a considerable height above the ground, and having compartments (pigeonholes), in which domestic pigeons breed; a dove house.

   Synonyms: columbarium, (Scotland) doocot, dovehouse, pigeon loft

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi], page 30:

     If you haue writ your Annales true, 'tis there, / That like an Eagle in a Doue-cote, I / Flutter'd your Volcians in Corioles.

   • 2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 2:

     she could see the malt-house with its dovecote

2. (historical) In medieval Europe, a round or square structure of stone or wood, free-standing or built into a tower, in which pigeons were kept.

Alternative forms

• dovecot

Derived terms

• flutter in the dovecote
• flutter the dovecote

Related terms

• dove

Translations

house or box in which domestic pigeons breed

• Armenian: աղավնատուն (hy) (aġavnatun), աղավնոց (aġavnocʻ)
• Basque: usategi
• Catalan: colomar m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鴿棚／鸽棚 (zh) (gēpéng)

• Classical Nahuatl: huīlōcalli
• Czech: holubník (cs) m
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: duiventil (nl) m, duivenkot (nl) n
• Esperanto: kolombejo (eo)
• Estonian: tuvila
• Finnish: kyyhkyslakka (fi)
• French: colombier (fr) m
• Galician: pombal (gl) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Taubenhaus (de) n, Taubenschlag (de) m, Taubenkobel (de) m
• Greek: περιστερώνας (el) m (peristerónas)

  Ancient: περιστερεών m (peristereṓn)

• Hungarian: galambdúc (hu)
• Irish: colmlann f
• Italian: colombaia (it) f
• Latin: columbārium n
• Lithuanian: karvelidė f
• Norman: colombyi m (Jersey)
• Ottoman Turkish: گوگرجینلك (güvercinlik)
• Polish: gołębnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: pombal (pt) m
• Romanian: porumbar (ro) m, porumbărie (ro) f
• Russian: голубя́тня (ru) f (golubjátnja)
• Serbo-Croatian: golubarnik (sh)
• Spanish: palomar m
• Swedish: duvslag (sv) n
• Tagalog: bahay-kalapati
• Turkish: güvercinlik (tr)
• Volapük: pijunöp, pejilitöp (obsolete)