dole

name

Etymology: * As an English surname, from the archaic noun dole (“portion, share”). * As a French surname, from Old French dolé, past participle of doler (“to regret”), from Latin doleo (“to hurt”). * Also as a French surname, Americanized from Daul.

1. A surname.
2. Dole Constituency, a parliamentary constituency in Zanzibar.
3. A commune in Jura department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.
4. A hamlet in Tirymynach community, Ceredigion, Wales (OS grid ref SN6386).

noun

1. Alternative form of dhole (“Asian wild dog”).

verb

Etymology: From Middle English dol, from Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”), from Proto-Germanic *dailą (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰayl- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Old Church Slavonic дѣлити (děliti, “divide”). More at deal.

1. To distribute in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.