dobbyn.
/ˈdɒbi/ 1. A silly old man, a dotard, a booby. dialect.
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1691 W. Nicholson Gloss. Northanhymbricum in J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 140 A Dobby, Stultus, Fatuus..senex decrepitus & delirans.
1787 in F. Grose Provinc. Gloss.
2. A household sprite or apparition supposed to haunt certain premises or localities; a brownie. dialect. (In Sussex called Master Dobbs.)
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > brownie
browniea1522
browning1601
lubber fiend1645
urisk1806
dobby1811
silky1822
nisse1828
1811 J. B. S. Morritt Let. to Scott 28 Dec. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott She..became a ghost..under the very poetic nom de guerre of Mortham Dobby.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xvi. 136 An ancient grange..supposed..to be haunted by a dobbie.
1823 W. Scott Peveril I. ix. 231 The Dobby's Walk was within the inhabited domains of the Hall.
3. Weaving. An attachment to a loom for weaving small figures (i.e. from twelve to thirty-six threads) similar in principle to the Jacquard attachment. Hence dobby-loom, dobby-machine; dobby-weave attributive.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > figure weaving > loom > parts of or attachments for
tablea1400
simple1731
draw-boy1811
card1829
needle1829
witch1829
machine card1832
Jacquard apparatus1841
Jacquard1851
griff1860
dobby1878
lappet1894
witch top1897
trap-board1900
necking cord1910
1878 A. Barlow Hist. & Princ. Weaving xxvi. 279 A small Jacquard machine, or dobby, was introduced in the silk trade in 1830 by Mr. S. Dean.
1882 Standard 7 Sept. 2/3 The ‘dobbies’—a modification of the Jacquard—were also shown.
1961 Guardian 30 Jan. 5/5 Some attractive suitcases..have ‘dobby-weave’ linings.
4. In full dobby-horse. A wooden figure of a horse. Cf. hobby-horse n. 2, 4b.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > [noun] > role or character
hobby-horse1557
harlequin1590
play-mare1598
Columbinea1723
clown1727
hobby1778
pantaloon1781
harlequiness1785
Pierrot?1789
pierrette1847
harlequina1867
dobby1879
principal boy1892
principal girl1893
dame1902
society > leisure > entertainment > place of amusement or entertainment > fairground or amusement park > [noun] > fairground ride > merry-go-round > horse or car
hobby-horse1741
flying boat1784
dobby1879
galloper1945
1879 J. C. Clough B. Bresskittle 9 (E.D.D.) Theer were shows an..dobby horses.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester 101 Dobby-horse, a hobby-horse. An imitation horse which figures in the play performed by the ‘Soulers’.
1933 E. K. Chambers Eng. Folk-play 214 Cheshire with a ‘Dobby-Horse’..and..there are similar rites with animals other than a Horse.
1937 J. B. Priestley I have been here Before ii. 63 He says we all go round and round like dobby horses.
1968 D. Braithwaite Fairground Archit. iii. 46 Early horse roundabouts, known as ‘Dobbies’,..were being produced at King's Lynn certainly in the early 1870's.
1968 D. Braithwaite Fairground Archit. iii. 158/1 Steam-driven 3-abreast Dobby Horses.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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