PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.
[…] Calidore perceiuing, thought it beſt / To chaunge the manner of his loftie looke; / And doffing his bright armes, himſelfe addreſt / In ſhepheards vveed, and in his hand he tooke, / In ſtead of ſteelehead ſpeare, a ſhepheards hooke, […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 36, page 476:
Thou vveare a Lyons hide, doff it for ſhame, / And hang a Calues skin on thoſe recreant limbes.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 9, column 1:
4 more examples
You haue deceiu'd our truſt, / And made vs doffe our eaſie roabes of peace, / To cruſh our old limbs in vngentle ſteele, / This is not vvell my Lord, this is not vvell.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], signature I2, recto:
[T]hen made him d'off thoſe vveeds: / And ſent the Mightie vnto mightie deeds.1626, Ovid, “The Thirteenth Booke”, in George Sandys, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished […], London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, page 259:
Upon a riſing bank I ſat adovvn, / Then doff'd my ſhoe, […]1714, J[ohn] Gay, “Thursday; or, The Spell”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], →OCLC, page 32, lines 20–21:
The little vvarriors doff the targe and ſpear, […]1771, James Beattie, The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius. A Poem. Book the First, London: […] E[dward] & C[harles] Dilly, […]; Edinburgh: A[lexander] Kincaid and W[illiam] Creech; and J[ohn] Bell, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXVII, page 19:
[H]is courtesy to show, / He doffed, to Marmion bending low, / His broidered cap and plume.1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Fifth. The Court.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza VIII, page 252:
1 more example
Were there really seventy-three ways to doff one's hat? / There were! I'd rather suspected that2010, Jim Burke, “Hail the Chap”, in I Say!, performed by Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer [pseudonym; Jim Burke]:
3
Dialectal To undress (oneself); to divest, to strip.
Archaic except UK
VVhy art thou troubled Herod? vvhat vaine feare / Thy blood-revolving Breſt to rage doth move? / Heavens King, vvho doffs himſelfe vveake fleſh to vveare, / Comes not to rule in vvrath, but ſerve in love.1646, Richard Crashaw, “Sospetto d’Herode. Libro Primo.”, in Steps to the Temple. Sacred Poems, with Other Delights of the Muses, London: […] T. W. for Humphrey Moseley, […], →OCLC, stanza 65, page 72:
4
Figuratively To cast aside or get rid of (something), to throw off.
Doff that stupid idea: it will never work.
[…] Romeo doffe thy name, / And for thy name vvhich is no part of thee, / Take all my ſelfe.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature D2, verso:
4 more examples
[H]ee (to requite their courteſie) oftentimes d'offeth off his ovvne Nature, and puts of theirs; as vvhen hee becomes as churliſh as a Hogge, or as drunke as a Sovv: […]1599 (first performance), B. I. [i.e., Ben Jonson], The Comicall Satyre of Euery Man out of His Humor. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for William Holme, […], published 1600, →OCLC, Act V, scene iii, signature [P iv], verso:
Novv is the time of helpe: your eye in Scotland / VVould create Soldiours, make our vvomen fight, / To doffe their dire diſtreſſes.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 147, column 2:
Thus death, vvho kings and tars deſpatches, / Tom's life hath vainly doff'd; / For though his body's under hatches, / His ſoul is gone aloft.[1781?], [Charles] Dibdin, “Poor Tom: Or, The Sailor’s Epitaph”, in The Bull-finch. Being a Choice Collection of the Newest and Most Favourite English Songs which have been Sett to Music and Sung at the Public Theatres & Gardens, London: […] G[eorge] Robinson and R[ichards] Baldwin […], and G. & J. Wilkie […], →OCLC, stanza 3, page 199:
Power laid his rod of rule aside, / And Ceremony doffed his pride.1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Introduction to Canto Sixth: To Richard Heber, Esq.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, page 301:
5
Business, Manufacturing, Textiles To remove (a bobbin or spindle which is full of spun yarn) from a spinning frame for replacement with an empty one.
6
Business, Manufacturing, Textiles To remove (small pieces of cotton or other plant fibre, etc.) from a carding cylinder.
7
Obsolete To put off or turn away (someone) with an excuse, etc.
Euery day, thou dofftſt me, vvith ſome deuiſe Iago; / And rather, as it ſeemes to me, thou keepeſt from me, / All conueniency, then ſupplieſt me, vvith the leaſt / Aduantage of hope: […]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], pages 77–78:
VVhen to one Goat, they reach that prickly vveed, / VVhich maketh all the reſt forbeare to feed; / Or ſtrevv Tods haires, or vvith their tailes do ſvveepe / The devvy graſſe, to d'off the ſimpler ſheepe; […]a. 1638 (date written), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Sad Shepherd: Or, A Tale of Robin-Hood”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, Act I, scene iiii, page 134:
8
Archaic, Rare To remove or tip a hat or other headwear in greeting or salutation, or as a mark of respect.
And [the goose] feeding high, and living soft, / Grew plump and able-bodied; / Until the grave churchwarden doff'd, / The parson smirk'd and nodded.1832, Alfred Tennyson, “The Goose”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza V, page 231:
9
Obsolete, Rare Followed by with: to remove or take off something worn on the body, or something carried.
VVhy, look'ye, Major Sturgeon, I don't much care for your poppers and ſharpes, becauſe vvhy, they are out of my vvay; but if you vvill doff vvith your boots, and box a couple of bouts.1763 June 20 (first performance), Samuel Foote, The Mayor of Garret. A Comedy, […], London: […] P[aul] Vaillant, […], published 1764, →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii], page 45:
PIE word *h₂epó The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (“to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming”), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (“to do; to put; to take off, remove”) + of (“from; off”). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do; to place, put”), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do; to make; to place, put”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). By surface analysis, do + off. Compare don (by surface analysis, do + on), dout (do + out), dup (do + up). The noun is derived from the verb.
1
Obsolete, Rare Followed by off: an act of putting off or turning away someone with an excuse, etc.
Faith, Lelia has een giuen him the doff off here, and has made hir father almoſt ſtarke mad.1606, A Pleasant Comedie, Called Wily Beguilde. […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Clement Knight; […], →OCLC, [scene xi], page 38, lines [1221–1222]: