downy

See also: dôwny and dŏwny

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂nós

Proto-Germanic *dūnaz

Old Norse dúnnbor.

Middle English doun

English down

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English downy

From down + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊni/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊni
• Homophone: Downie

Adjective

downy (comparative downier, superlative downiest)

1. Having down, covered with a soft fuzzy coating as of small feathers or hair.

   The chick's downy coat of feathers formed almost immediately to keep it warm.

2. (slang, dated) Sharp-witted, perceptive.
   • 1947, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Speech in UK House of Commons, 10th November 1947:

     The right hon. Gentleman has much more claim to the adjective downy than I have, but he really cannot catch me with that one.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 10, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     I’m not clever, p’raps: but I am rather downy; and partial friends say I know what’s o’clock tolerably well.

3. (UK, Norfolk) Low-spirited; down in the mouth.

Derived terms

• downily
• downiness
• downy birch
• downy rattlesnake
• downy willow
• downy woodpecker
• undowny

Translations

having down

• Breton: marbluñvek
• Bulgarian: пухест (puhest), мъхест (bg) (măhest)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 毛茸茸 (zh) (máoróngróng)

• Dutch: donzig (nl)
• Finnish: untuvainen (fi)
• French: duveteux (fr)
• German: flaumig
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: χνόϊος (khnóïos)

• Irish: clúmhach
• Italian: lanuginoso
• Latvian: pūkains
• Plautdietsch: dünijch
• Polish: puchowy (pl)
• Russian: пухо́вый (ru) (puxóvyj) (made of down), пуши́стый (ru) (pušístyj) (furry, fuzzy)
• Swedish: dunig (sv)
• Welsh: manbluog

Noun

downy (plural downies)

1. A blanket filled with down; a duvet.
   • 2013, Dorothy M. Jensen, The Little Girl From 311 Travis Street, page 246:

     Went to bed with 2 downies on the bed, but the heat finally kicked in and ended with one cover and my feet sticking out.

2. (slang, dated) A bed.

   to do the downy (i.e. lie in bed)

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, The Three Clerks, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, page 181:

     "Lord love you, Mr. Scott, I've a deal to do before I get to my downy; and I don't like those doctored tipples. Good night, Mr. Scott; I wishes you good night, sir;" and making another slight reference to his hat, which had not been removed from his head during the whole interview, Mr. Manylodes took himself off.

Derived terms

• downy mildew
• downy oak

References

• “downy adj.¹”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Goral):
    • (Zagórze) IPA^(key): [ˈdɔv.nɘ]

Adjective

downy

1. (Zagórze) alternative form of dawny

Further reading

• Józefa Kobylińska (2001), “dawny”, in Marian Kucała, editor, Słownik gwary gorczańskiej (zagórzańskiej)‎^[1] (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Pedagogicznej, →ISBN, page 26