1703: dairy Aug 13, 2019

Although English has in many cases synonyms that come from multiple languages, this is not the case with 'dairy' and 'milk'. It is only very recently that 'dairy' on its own has meant 'milk and its byproducts". In Old English, 'dǣge' meant 'female servant', thence 'dairymaid', and indeed 'lady' comes from this ending, along with 'hlǣf' 'meaning 'loaf' (literally 'dough-maid'). Moreover, the word 'dough' is related to 'dairy' etymologically. In Middle English, and even technically today 'a dairy' is a building where milk products are processed and stored, and along with the other similar terms would have been associated with women's work more generally.

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