different between comfortable vs douth

English

Alternative forms

• comfterble / comftorble (eye dialect)

Etymology

From Middle English comfortable, from Old French confortable, from conforter. See also comfort.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Canada)
  • enPR: k?mf't?bl, k?mf't?rbl, k?m'f?rt?bl, k?m'f?t?bl
  • IPA^(key): /?k?mf.t?.b?l/, /?k?mf.t??.b?l/, /?k?m.f??.t?.b?l/, /?k?m.f?.t?.b?l/
• (Received Pronunciation)
  • enPR: k?mf't?bl IPA^(key): /?k?mf.t?.b?l/, [?k???f.t???.b??]
  • enPR: k?m'f?t?bl IPA^(key): /?k?m.f?.t?.b?l/
• (General New Zealand)
  • enPR: k?mf't?bl
  • IPA^(key): /?k?mf.t?.b?l/, [?k???f.t?.bl?], [?k???.f??.b?]

Adjective

comfortable (comparative comfortabler or more comfortable, superlative comfortablest or most comfortable)

1. Providing physical comfort and ease; agreeable. [from 18^thc.]
2. In a state of comfort and content. [from 18^thc.]

   • A great bargain also had been […] the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.

3. (obsolete) Comforting, providing comfort; consolatory. [14^th-19^thc.]
   • 1699, John Dryden, Tales from Chaucer

     a comfortable provision made for their subsistence

4. Amply sufficient, satisfactory. [from 17^thc.]
5. (obsolete) Strong; vigorous; valiant.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wyclif to this entry?)
6. (obsolete) Serviceable; helpful.

Usage notes

Although the word comfortable looks (etymonically) like one of its senses could be synonymous with consolable, it does not have that sense; the absence of that sense is simply a lexical gap. In parallel, the same is true of comfortability and consolability, as well as uncomfortable and inconsolable.

Synonyms

• (providing/enjoying comfort): comforting, comfy, cozy, eathful, restful, snug, cushy
• (safely reliable): safe

Antonyms

• comfortless, uncomfortable

Derived terms

Related terms

• comforter
• discomfort

Translations

Noun

comfortable (plural comfortables)

1. (US) A stuffed or quilted coverlet for a bed; a comforter.

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French confortable, from conforter.

Adjective

comfortable

1. comfortable

Descendants

• English: comfortable

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: douth, IPA^(key): /da??/
• Rhymes: -a??

Etymology 1

From Middle English douth, douthe, duweðe (“body of retainers, people, might, dignity, worth”), from Old English duguþ (“manhood, host, multitude, troops”), from Proto-Germanic *dugunþ? (“power, competency, notefulness, virtue”), from *dugan? (“to be useful”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?ewg?- (“to be ready, be sufficient”). Cognate with North Frisian døgd, døged (“ability, good deed”), Dutch deugd (“virtue”), German Tugend (“virtue”), Swedish dygd (“virtue”), Icelandic dygð, dyggð (“virtue”). Related to dow, doughty.

Noun

douth (usually uncountable, plural douths)

1. (obsolete) Virtue; excellence; atheldom; nobility; power; riches.
2. (obsolete) A group of people, especially an army or retinue.
3. (dialectal) Reliability; ease; security; shelter.

   There's no^[sic] much douth in a wire fence.

Adjective

douth (comparative more douth, superlative most douth)

1. (dialectal) Snug; comfortable; in easy circumstances.

Etymology 2

Noun

douth (plural douths)

1. Alternative form of dought

Middle English

Alternative forms

• douthe, duthe, douþe
• (Early ME) dugeð, duweðe, du?eðe, do?eðe, du?eþe, duheðe, duhþe, du?d

Etymology

From Old English duguþ, from Proto-Germanic *dugunþ?.

Pronunciation

• (Early ME) IPA^(key): /?du???/
• IPA^(key): /du??/

Noun

douth (uncountable)

1. A group, band, or company of people:
   1. The personal military force of a ruler or potentate.
   2. Any group of armed people; an army or troop.
2. (rare) Potency, might, worth.
3. (rare) An individual person.
4. (rare) Something beneficial; a boon.
5. (rare) The state of being mature.

Related terms

• doughty

Descendants

• English: douth
• Scots: duthe, douth

References

• “douth, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-06-05.