Etymology From Middle English dawe, from Old English *dāwe, from Proto-West Germanic *dāhwā. Cognate with German Dahle, Dohle, dialectal Tach.
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A western jackdaw, Coloeus monedula, a passerine bird in the crow family (Corvidae), more commonly called jackdaw.
The loud daw, his throat displaying, draws The whole assembly of his fellow daws.a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To Mr Killigrew:
[…] But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
Therefore to make complaynt Of such mysadvysed Parsons and dysgysed, Thys boke we have devysed, […] No good preest to offend, But suche dawes to amend, […]c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 20–23:
A kind of choughs, Or thievish daws, sir, that have pick'd my purse Of eight score and ten pounds within these five weeks1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
1 more example
‘Of course I do, you great daw.’ She kissed his beautiful mouth and moved his fringe out of his eyes.2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003:
Etymology From Middle English dawen, from Old English dagian (“to dawn”), from Proto-West Germanic *dagēn, from Proto-Germanic *dagāną (“to become day, dawn”), from *dagaz (“day”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). More at day, dawn.
ANd whanne the Quene herd them saye soo she felle to the erthe in a dede swoune and thenne syr Bors took her vp and dawed her & whanne she was awaked she kneled afore the thre knyghtes and helde vp bothe their handes and besoughte them to seke hym And when the queen heard them say so she fell to the earth in a dead swoon. And then Sir Bors took her up, and dawed her; and when she was awaked she kneeled afore the three knights, and held up both their hands, and besought them to seek him1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter 10, in Le Morte Darthur, book XI: