English

Alternative forms

• Davie

Proper noun

Davy

1. A diminutive of the male given name David.
2. A patronymic surname​ derived from David.

Derived terms

• Davy lamp
• Davy Jones
• Davy Jones’s locker

Quotations

• ~1599 William Shakespeare: Henry the Fifth: Act IV, Scene I:

  Tell him, I'll knock his leek about his pate

  Upon Saint Davy's day.

French

Proper noun

Davy m

1. A surname​ derived from David.
2. A male given name of modern usage.

Manx

Proper noun

Davy m

1. A male given name, Manx equivalent to David

Mutation

English

Noun

davy ‎(plural davys or davies)

1. An affidavit, a legally binding statement or oath

   Rather than testify in open court, each sailor posted a davy before sailing off.

   • 1883, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, John Wilson and Son, 1895, page 66

     "You and me should get on well, Hawkins, for I'll take my davy I should be rated ship's boy."

2. A davy lamp, more often capitalized as Davy lamp, a type of safety lamp

   The miner knew the old davy was safer than any open flame, but far riskier than a modern flashlight.

   • 1996, English-English-Telugu Dictionary by Junathula Venkata Subrahmanyam, Sura Books, 1996, page 113

     davy-lamp [n]: coal-miner's safety daw

   • 2009, Dictionary of Energy: Expanded Edition edited by Cutler J. Cleveland, Christopher G. Morris, Elsevier, 2009, page 124

     He also developed the innovative davy lamp for use in coal mines.

Related terms

• affydavy
• affy-davy
• Davy
• Davy Lamp
• Davy lamp
• Davy-lamp
• Davy's lamp