Origin and history of dodge

dodge(v.)

1560s, "go this way and that in speech or action," a sense now obsolete; from 1680s as "start suddenly aside, shift suddenly," as to evade a blow;" 1704 as "to move to and fro, shift about;" origin and sense evolution obscure. Perhaps it is from or akin to Scottish and Northern English dodd "to jog" (1570s).

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Transitive sense of "to evade (something) by a sudden shift of place" is by 1670s. It is attested from 1570s, and common from early 18c., in the figurative sense of "to swindle, to play shifting tricks (with)." Photography sense of "use artifice to improve a print" is by 1883. Related: Dodged; dodging.

Dodge City, Kansas, was laid out in 1872 and named for U.S. military man Richard I. Dodge, then commander of the nearby army fort. It later was notorious in Wild West lore as the home of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson.

dodge(n.)

"a shifty contrivance or clever trick," 1630s, from dodge (v.). Revived or reformed in early 19c.

also from 1630s

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Entries linking to dodge

dodger(n.)

1560s, "one who dodges or evades" in any sense, especially "one practiced in artful shifts," agent noun from the literal or figurative (especially underworld) senses of dodge (v.).

The U.S. meaning "corn cake" is recorded from 1831 (usually as corn-dodger) and is perhaps a different word: Compare Northern English dialectal dodge "lump, large piece" (1560s).

The Artful Dodger (Jack Dawkins), so called for his skill in picking pockets, leader of a gang of child criminals, is from Dickens' "Oliver Twist" (1837-39). 

The U.S. baseball club the Dodgers, originally based in Brooklyn, N.Y., was so called from 1900, from trolley dodgers, a Manhattanites' nickname for Brooklyn residents, in reference to the streetcar lines that then crisscrossed the borough.

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dodgy(adj.)

"evasive, artful, cunning," 1855, from dodge (n.) + -y (2). Hence, "unreliable, potentially dangerous." Related: Dodgily; dodginess.

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    hedge
    Old English hecg "hedge," originally any fence, living or artificial, from West Germanic *hagjo (source also of Middle Dutch hegge, Dutch heg, Old High German hegga, German Hecke "hedge"), from a verb *hagjanan, from PIE root *kagh- "to catch, seize; wickerwork, fence" (source al
    fudge
    "put together clumsily or dishonestly," by 1771 (perhaps from 17c.); perhaps an alteration of fadge "make suit, fit" (1570s), a verb of unknown origin. The verb fudge later had an especial association with sailors and log books. The traditional story of the origin of the interjec
    circumvent
    mid-15c., "to surround by hostile stratagem," from Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenire "to get around, be around, encircle, surround," in figurative sense "to oppress, assail, cheat," from circum "around" (see circum-) + venire "to come," from a suffixed form of P
    shirk
    It also was used by 1787 in the sense of "evade (someone), avoid meeting, dodge." Related: Shirked; shirking....
    rush
    (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel," which...
    ruse
    stratagem, an artifice," from Old French ruse, reuse "diversion, switch in flight; trick, jest" (14c.), a noun from reuser "to dodge...
    Roger
    Pet forms include Hodge and Dodge. As a generic name for "a person," attested from 1630s. In 16c.-17c. cant, "a goose."...
    stratagem
    "artifice, trick," especially in war, late 15c., from French strattegeme, stratagème "trick, especially to outwit an enemy" (15c.), from Italian stratagemma, from Latin strategema "artifice, stratagem," from Greek strategema "the act of a general; military stratagem," from strate
    strategy
    1810, "the art of a general, the science of war," from French stratégie (16c.) and directly from Latinized form of Greek stratēgia "office or command of a general," from stratēgos "general, commander of an army," also the title of various civil officials and magistrates, from str
    falsehood
    c. 1300, falshede, "deceitfulness," also "a lie; that which is false," from false + -hood. Formed on the same pattern are Old Frisian falschede, Dutch valschheid, German Falschheit, Swedish falskhet. Former noun forms in English, now extinct, included falsage "wrongdoing" (late 1
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    Dictionary entries near dodge