dovecote
nounUK /ˈdʌvkɒt/ · US /ˈdʌvkɑt/
Etymology From dove + cote.
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.
- If you haue writ your Annales true, 'tis there, / That like an Eagle in a Doue-cote, I / Flutter'd your Volcians in Corioles.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:
- she could see the malt-house with its dovecote2003, Peter Ackroyd, The Clerkenwell Tales, page 2:
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.
- Derived terms
- flutter in the dovecote, flutter the dovecote
- Related terms
- dove