different between dunce vs daunce

English

Etymology

1530, named after John Duns Scotus (c. 1266–1308).

Scotus was ironically a well-known Scottish thinker. His followers, however, opposed the philosophers of the Renaissance, and thus "dunce" was first used to describe someone rejecting new knowledge in 1530; later, any stupid person.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Noun

dunce (plural dunces)

1. An unintelligent person.

   Synonyms: idiot; see also Thesaurus:idiot

   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XXX:

     [...] Dunce, / Dotard, a-dozing at the very nonce, / After a life spent training for the sight!

Derived terms

• dunce cap
• duncedom
• dunce hat
• duncehood
• duncelike
• duncely
• duncish/dunceish

Translations

Further reading

• “dunce”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

English

Noun

daunce (plural daunces)

1. Obsolete form of dance.

Verb

daunce (third-person singular simple present daunces, present participle dauncing, simple past and past participle daunced)

1. Obsolete form of dance.

Anagrams

• undeca-

Middle English

Alternative forms

• dance, danse, daunse

Etymology

Anglo-Norman daunce, variant of Old French dance.

Pronunciation

• (Early ME) IPA^(key): /dau?nts?/, /dants?/
• IPA^(key): /dau?ns(?)/, /dans(?)/

Noun

daunce (plural daunces)

1. dance; dancing
2. dance song

Related terms

• dauncen

Descendants

• English: dance

References

• “daunce, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-27.

Old French

Noun

daunce f (oblique plural daunces, nominative singular daunce, nominative plural daunces)

1. Late Anglo-Norman spelling of dance