Etymology Partly from Middle French doge and partly from its etymon, Italian doge, from Venetan doxe, from Latin ducem, accusative of dux (“leader; commander; ruler”). Doublet of duc, duce, duke, and dux.
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Historical The chief magistrate in the republics of Venice and Genoa.
In the thirteenth century, a new method of appointing the doge, by the famous ballot of Venice, a complicated mixture of choice and chance, was adopted.1797, John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, page 62:
This reply was one of the first important pronouncements to be made by Antonio Grimani, who on 6 July had been elected seventy-fourth Doge of Venice in succession to Leonardo Loredan.1982, John Julius Norwich, chapter 34, in A History of Venice, page 346:
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The doge and the Venetian Senate might still be the servants (douloi) of the emperor, but nonetheless they were able to fix the price of their naval aid.2013, Judith Herrin, “The Collapse of the Byzantine Empire in the Twelfth Century: A Study of a Medieval Economy”, in Margins and Metropolis: Authority Across the Byzantine Empire, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, page 114:
Etymology Back-formation from doge as a backronym, an Internet meme, or from dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that Elon Musk has supported.
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To fire, scale back or remove in an attempt to improve efficiency.
There was a huge exodus over at the National Archives for snickety librarians were getting DOGEd silly.2025 February 20, “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip”, in CNN, spoken by Jesse Watters:
“I finally found one person I knew who got DOGE’d, and it hit me in the heart,” said Watters, who urged his Fox colleagues to “be a little bit less callous.”2025 March 7, Jonathan Lemire, quoting Jesse Watters, “Is DOGE Losing Steam?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2025:
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Hinojosa called it a DOGEing of the TEA: “It is a zero-based budgeting bill to cut through the nonsense and the bureaucracy and the vendor contracts, and reprioritize that money to what matters – teacher pay, school safety, and closing the special education funding gap.”2025 March 28, Brant Bigamon, “DOGEing the Texas Education Agency”, in The Austin Chronicle:
doge
noun
UK /dəʊɡ/ · US /doʊdʒ/
Etymology From dog, probably as a sensational spelling of doggy like monke. First attested in the 2005 episode "Biz Cas Fri 1" from Homestar Runner.
Internet, Humorous Specifically, a Shiba Inu, as in the doge meme.
Bobsled wasn't the only Dogecoin-backed sporting success. Fans of Nascar will recognise the car driven by Josh Wise, emblazoned, as it is, with the adorable little doge on its bonnet (pictured above).2015 July 23, Dave Lee, “Six times Reddit wasn't completely awful”, in BBC: