trattoria

Pronounced: trah-tuh-REE-uh, noun

Notes: This word seems a bit familiar to me, but I don’t remember running across it

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Yesterday’s word

The word dotterel is

• any of the various plovers (birds) breeding in mountainous areas
• someone who is easily duped

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1400s

Background / Comments

I have not heard our word, and had no idea it referred to a bird. Supposedly, the word has a very unsuspecting nature, and that is the origin of the second meaning. Our word comes from the word dote (to be weak-minded from old age), which comes from the Middle English word doten (to be foolish) combined with -rel (a diminutive or pejorative suffix). As I noted yesterday, I know a related word: the word “dotage”, which comes from the word dote.