What does dory mean?
A dory is a small, light, flat-bottomed boat with sharply flared sides and a pointed bow and stern, designed to nest stably when stacked aboard larger vessels and to carry heavy loads despite its modest size. Originating among New England fishermen, dories became legendary workhorses of the North Atlantic cod fisheries during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when crews fished far offshore from these simple boats, propelled by oars or small sails. The word's durability reflects both the vessel's practicality and its romantic place in maritime history. Separately, "dory" names an edible sea fish — most familiar as the John Dory, a strikingly thin, deep-bodied fish marked by a dark eyespot on its flank and prized in European cooking. In everyday usage the word most often evokes the boat, appearing in phrases like "fishing dory," while the culinary sense is almost always qualified as "John Dory." The plural is simply "dories."
A small, narrow, flat-bottomed fishing boat with high flared sides, pointed at bow and stern, historically rowed or sailed.
"Every morning the crews lowered their dories over the side and scattered across the fishing grounds."
Often modified by the boat's function or region, as in "Bank dory" or "swampscott dory."
An edible marine fish, especially the John Dory (Zeus faber), a deep-bodied, laterally compressed fish valued as food.
"John Dory is best cooked simply, so its delicate flavour comes through."
In culinary contexts the fish sense nearly always takes the form "John Dory."
Regular plural: add -es after the y.
"A fleet of weathered dories lined the harbour wall."
The humble dory was the workhorse of the Grand Banks cod fishery — so seaworthy that fishermen crossed hundreds of miles of open Atlantic in these tiny flat-bottomed boats.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dory
The origin of "dory" is uncertain. It first appears in English in the eighteenth century in reference to the small fishing boat, and one frequently suggested source is the French adjective "dorée," meaning "golden" or "gilded," which may have been applied to either a type of boat or to the golden-hued John Dory fish before transferring to the vessel. A similar theory links the fish name itself to French "jaune dorée" ("golden yellow"). Because the earliest evidence is sparse and the transmission path unclear, lexicographers generally treat the word's ultimate origin as unknown rather than asserting a single lineage.
Related word forms
How dory is actually used
"Dory" as a boat carries strong maritime and regional connotations, particularly associated with New England and Canadian Atlantic fishing communities; it often appears in historical or nostalgic contexts about the age of commercial cod fishing. The fish sense usually appears in the fixed phrase "John Dory" and is chiefly encountered on menus in British and European cuisine.
Easily confused with dory
A dinghy is a general term for any small open boat, often used as a tender or for sailing, whereas a dory specifically denotes a flat-bottomed, high-sided fishing boat of New England design.