daff, to put off, put aside. A variant of doff, to do off, put off. 1 Hen. IV, iv. 1. 96; and elsewhere in Shakespeare.
daff, a simpleton; a coward; ‘(The Bishop of Llandaff) answers, The daffe is here, but the land is gone’, Harrison, Descr. England, bk. ii, ch. ii (ed. Furnivall, 58). In prov. use in both senses in Yorks. (EDD.). ME. daf: ‘I sal been halde a daf, a cokenay’ (Chaucer, C. T. A. 4208).
daffysh, foolish. Morte Arthur, leaf 205. 10; bk. ix, c. 13. In prov. use in Derbysh., Warwicksh., and W. Midlands in the sense of sheepish (EDD.).
dag, a small pistol; ‘This gun? a dag?’, Beaumont and Fl., Love’s Cure, ii. 2 (Lucio); Arden of Fev. iii. 6. 9; ‘Pistolet, a pistolet, a dag, or little pistol’, Cotgrave.
Dagonet, a foolish young knight. Davenant, The Wits, ii. 1 (Ginet). Sir Dagonet was a foolish knight in the court of Arthur; see 2 Hen. IV, iii. 2. 300: ‘Sir Dagonet in Arthur’s show’.
dagswain, daggeswane, a rough coverlet. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 2195. ME. daggeswayn, ‘lodex’ (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 528).
dain, disdain; hence, ignominy; ‘A deepe daine’, Lyly, Sappho, v. 1; ‘dennes of daine’, Mirror for Mag., Cordila, st. 31. Cp. F. dain, dainty, fine, curious (Cotgr.). (The word in England seems to have developed a subst. meaning of ‘squeamishness’, ‘stand-offishness’.)
dain, to disdain. Greene, Alphonsus, i. Prol. (Venus); iii. (Medea).
dalliance, hesitation, delay. 1 Hen. VI, v. 2. 5; Virgin-Martyr, iv. 1 (Sapritius). See Dict. (s.v. Dally).
damassin, damson. Bacon, Essay 46. F. damaisine, ‘a Damascene, or damson plumb’ (Cotgr.).