Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1724-1727, 1788, 1856-2000
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DOCHTER, n. Sc. form of Eng. daughter. Also dauchter, douchter, †do(u)ghter, da(a)chter. The form dochter is also found in Nhb. dial. For other forms see Dother, Dowter. [′doxtər, ′dɔ- Sc.. Sh. + ′dʌux-, Ork. ′dɑ:x-, ′dʌux-, Cai., ne.Sc. ‡′dɑx-, Edb. + ′dɑx-, Bwk. ′dɒ(:)x-, Rxb. ′dux-]Sc. 1724–27 Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1733) I. 8:
I'm come your doghter's love to win.Sh. 1931 W. J. Tulloch in Sh. Almanac 192:
He hed fower douchters, very bonnie lasses.Sh. 1994 Laureen Johnson in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 165:
Shö spak aboot her doughter back hame, on holiday wi da boyfreend. Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 3:
An' sheu geed oot o' the chaepal; an' her five douchters followed her.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxii.:
My daachter: Maister Hadden, an aul' frien'.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 26:
My dochter's servin' in the toun.m.Sc. 1979 William J. Rae in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 79:
Whaun the MacPuddock wis telt that Eck wis a guid sweemer, he decreet that his punishment should be tae act as bodygaird tae his dochter,... m.Sc. 1991 Donald Goodbrand Saunders in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 137:
Whilk o King Duncan's twa dochters
Is lookan tae be wad? wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 7:
He whispers in his ear and cries him brither,
Loves him mair than wife, dochter or mither. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 72:
'Frae the man that's mairrit on Lord Abbotshall's dochter,' Eleis said, laughing, 'that must come frae the hert.'Ayr. 1788 Burns Jumpin John (Cent. ed.) ii.:
A vera guid tocher! a cotter-man's dochter, The lass with the bonie black e'e!s.Sc. 1856 H. S. Riddell St Matthew xiv. 6:
The doughter o' Herodias.Uls. 1879 W. G. Lyttle Readings 45:
Ye hae this day conferred on me the greatest favor it wuz in yer power tae bestow in givin' me yer dochter Maggie for a wife.
Hence dochterlie, adj., becoming to a daughter, daughterly (Abd. 1825 Jam.2).
[O.Sc. has dochter, douchter, doughter, from 1375, also later da(u)chter; O.E. dohtor, Mid.Eng. dohter. The forms with a are due to the influence of St.Eng.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Dochter n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/dochter>
