different between wherry vs dory

English

Etymology

From Middle English whery (“small boat”), of obscure origin but cognate to French Houari [[1]] and Breton Ouari, as well as Welsh, Chweri « small boat ».

Noun

wherry (countable and uncountable, plural wherries)

1. (countable) A light ship used to navigate inland waterways.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 2:

     O how I should like to see her floating in the water yonder, turban and all, with her train streaming after her, and her nose like the beak of a wherry.

   • 1932, John Dos Passos, 1919, Houghton Mifflin Company 2000, p. 67

     He went out for Freshman rowing but didn't make any of the crews and took to rowing by himself in a wherry three afternoons a week.

2. (countable, historical) A flat-bottomed vessel once employed by British merchants, notably in East Anglia, sometimes converted into pleasure boats.
   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

     Here I used to enjoy myself in playing about the bridge stairs, and often in the watermen's wherries, with other boys. On one of these occasions there was another boy with me in a wherry, and we went out into the current of the river: while we were there two more stout boys came to us in another wherry, and, abusing us for taking the boat, desired me to get into the other wherry-boat. Accordingly I went to get out of the wherry I was in; but just as I had got one of my feet into the other boat the boys shoved it off, so that I fell into the Thames; and, not being able to swim, I should unavoidably have been drowned, but for the assistance of some watermen who providentially came to my relief.

   • 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando

     The river was astir early and late with barges, wherries, and craft of every description.

3. A liquor made from the pulp of crab apples after the verjuice is extracted.

Translations

See also

• ferry

English

Etymology 1

Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???i/
• Rhymes: -???i

Noun

dory (plural dories)

1. (nautical) A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English dorry, from Old French doree, past participle of dorer (“to gild”), from Latin deauratus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d???i/
• Rhymes: -???i

Noun

dory (plural dories)

1. Any of several different families of large-eyed, silvery, deep-bodied, laterally compressed, and roughly discoid marine fish.

Translations

Adjective

dory (comparative more dory, superlative most dory)

1. (obsolete) Of a bright yellow or golden color.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ???? (dóru).

Pronunciation

Noun

dory (plural dories)

1. A wooden pike or spear about three metres (ten feet) in length with a flat, leaf-shaped iron spearhead and a bronze butt-spike (called a sauroter), which was the main weapon of hoplites in Ancient Greece. It was usually not thrown but rather thrust at opponents with one hand.
   • 2011 (republished 2014 as an e-book), Chris McNab, A History of the World in 100 Weapons, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, ?ISBN, page 37:

     The principal weapon of the hoplite was the dory spear. It was unusually long – it could measure up to 10ft (3m) in length, and weighed about 4.4lb (2kg). At one end was a broad, leaf-pattern spearhead, while at the other end was a metal spike called a sauroter. The purpose of the spike is much debated: it almost certainly acted as a counterbalance, making the spear easier to hold and wield; it could have been used as an improvised spear point, or for making downward attacks on the enemy's exposed feet; or it might even have been embedded in the ground to keep the spear in place.

Alternative forms

• doru

Further reading

• dory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dory (fish) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dory (spear) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “dory”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• dyor