20kWEB: Origin of the word Dairy. Etymology of the word Dairy. Etymology Dictionary.

DAIRY, a place for keeping milk to be made into cheese. (Scand.) M. E. daierie, better deyerye, Chaucer, C. T. 597 (or 599). The Low Lat. form is dayeria, but this is merely the E. word written in a Latin fashion. α. The word is hybrid, being made by suffixing the F. -erie (Lat. -aria) or F. -rie (Lat. -ria) to the M. E. deye, a maid, a female-servant, esp. a dairy-maid. Similarly formed words are butte-ry ( = bottle-ry), vin-t-ry, pan-t-ry, laund-ry; see Morris, Hist. Outlines of Eng. Accidence, p. 233. β. The M. E. deye, a maid, occurs in Chaucer, Nonne Pr. Tale, l. 26, and is of Scand. origin.—Icel. deigja, a maid, esp. a dairy-maid; see note upon the word in Cleasby and Vigfusson. + Swed. deja, a dairymaid. γ. However, the still older sense of the word was 'kneader of dough,' and it meant at first a woman employed in baking, a baker-woman. The same maid no doubt made the bread and attended to the dairy, as is frequently the case to this day in farm-houses. More literally, the word is 'dough-er;' from the Icel. deig, Swed. deg, dough. The suffix -ja had an active force; cf. Mœso-Gothic verbs in -jan. See further under Dough; and see Lady.

Etymology Dictionary

Origin of the word DAIRY. Etymology of the word DAIRY.