Darby
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: darby
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From the English place name Derby, from Old Norse djúr (“deer”) + býr (“settlement”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɑːbi/
Proper noun[edit]
Darby (plural Darbys)
- A habitational surname.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- 2000, David Pierce, Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader. Cork University Press. ISBN 1859182585, page 8:
- The man whom you call Diarmaid when you speak Irish, a low, pernicious, un-Irish, detestable custom, begot by slavery, and propagated by cringing, and fostered by flunkeyism, forces you to call Jeremiah when you speak English, or as a concession, Darby.
- 2000, David Pierce, Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader. Cork University Press. ISBN 1859182585, page 8:
- A female given name of modern usage, transferred from the surname.
- 1992 John Grisham, The Pelican Brief, Doubleday, ISBN 0385421982, page 52:
- "You could always pick names, Thomas. I remember women you turned down because you didn't like their names. Gorgeous, hot women, but with flat names. Darby. Has a nice, erotic touch to it. What a name.
- 1992 John Grisham, The Pelican Brief, Doubleday, ISBN 0385421982, page 52:
Usage notes[edit]
Used as an Anglicisation of Diarmaid in Ireland.
Quotations[edit]
- 1735 Henry Woodfall: The Joy of Love never forgot, The Gentlemen's Magazine, March 1735, volume 5, page 153:
- Old Darby, with Joan by his side, / You've often regarded with wonder.
- 1885 Frances Mabel Robinson, Mr. Butler's Ward, Vizetelly, page 95:
- "Theatre and saltpetre are both spelt that way, Arthur; depend upon it, it is Deirder - a sort of peasant name like Darby and Biddy, a corruption of something else."
