Etymograph

English

doff

Doff comes from Middle English doffen ‘to take off (clothing)’, from Old English dōn ‘to do’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic two
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dōną2‘to do, make’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dōn3‘to do’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōn1‘to do’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōn of1‘to take off (remove)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500do off1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500doffen1‘to take off (clothing)’contraction of do off
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595doff1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English doff
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *dōn
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English don
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, London: […] Thomas Creede: “[…] Romeo doffe thy name, / And for thy…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English doff‘to do’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic two
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dōnąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *dōn‘to do, make’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dōnWiktionary, Old English don‘to do’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōnWiktionary, English doff‘to do’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150dōn ofWiktionary, English doff‘to take off (remove)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500do offWiktionary, English doff
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500doffenWiktionary, English doff‘to take off (clothing)’contraction of do off
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595doffWiktionary, English doff. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, London: […] Thomas Creede: “[…] Romeo doffe thy name, / And for thy…”

Equivalent to do + off

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put’

Proto-Germanic *dōną ‘to do’

Proto-West Germanic *dōn ‘to do’

Old English dōn ‘to do’

Middle English don

English do

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep

…

Proto-West Germanic *ab

Old English æf ‘of’

Old English of ‘from’

Middle English of

English off

The story

The verb is derived from Late Middle English doffen (‘to take off (clothing); to remove (headwear) as a sign of respect; to remove (grease) by skimming’), a contraction of Middle English do off, don off, from Old English dōn of, from dōn (‘to do; to put; to take off, remove’) + of (‘from; off’). Dōn is derived from Proto-West Germanic *dōn (‘to do; to place, put’), from Proto-Germanic *dōną (‘to do; to make; to place, put’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (‘to do; to place, put’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, feature, mid, theme, defence, custom, ethnic, treasury, treasure, sufficient, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, defendant, feast, synthetic, theology, tick, deed, dis, atheist, ethic, auditorium, auditor, atheism, doom, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, feral, 127 more

through Proto-West Germanic *dōn ‘to do’

overdone, 2 more

through Old English dōn ‘to do’

do, done, overdo, 3 more

Today it means

verb To remove or take off (something worn on the body such as armour or clothing, or something carried).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “doff”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-West Germanic *dōn, Old English don. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / doff

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