dock

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an enclosure in a court of law where the defendant sits during the trial
  2. noun any of certain coarse weedy plants with long taproots, sometimes used as table greens or in folk medicine
  3. noun a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats

Etymology

From Middle English dokke, from Old English docce, from Proto-West Germanic *dokkā, from Proto-Germanic *dukkǭ (compare Old Danish dokke (“water-dock”), West Flemish dokke, dokkebladeren (“coltsfoot, butterbur”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“dark”) (compare Latvian duga (“scum, slime on water”)).

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