What does doxie mean?
"Doxie" is an old English noun denoting a woman who is a man's mistress or lover, and in earlier centuries, sometimes a prostitute. It belongs to the informal, often coarse register of Early Modern English and flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, appearing in ballads, plays, and canting dictionaries that catalogued the slang of thieves and vagabonds. Today the word is essentially obsolete in everyday speech; readers meet it almost exclusively in historical fiction, costume drama, or deliberately antiquated comedy, where it lends flavor and a hint of bawdy humor. Its connotations are dismissive and slightly derisive, so using it of a real modern person would be insulting. For vocabulary enthusiasts, "doxie" is valuable chiefly as a window into the rich slang vocabulary of past eras, standing alongside words like "wench" and "paramour" as a reminder of how language registers social attitudes toward relationships and respectability.
nounA mistress or paramour; in older use, a prostitute. The word is now archaic or jocular, surviving chiefly in historical fiction and period dialogue.
- A mistress or female lover, especially one kept by a man.
- Archaically, a prostitute or beggar's companion.
"The innkeeper's doxie slipped quietly up the back stairs before dawn."
"He kept a doxie in lodgings across the river, to his wife's enduring fury."
"The broadside ballad mocked the squire and his doxie for all the parish to hear."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple women in this role, typically in historical or comic contexts.
"The ballad satirized the lord and all his doxies."
A word that sounds like a pet name for a dog was once a scandalous label for a kept woman.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of doxie
The origin of "doxie" is genuinely uncertain, which lexicographers have long acknowledged. It is first recorded in English in the sixteenth century, when it could mean a beggar's female companion or a prostitute, later narrowing chiefly to "mistress." Some scholars have suggested a connection with Romani or with the canting slang of vagabonds, but no derivation is firmly established, so cautious dictionaries simply mark the etymology as obscure.
How doxie is actually used
The word is dated and informal, carrying a dismissive or mocking tone rather than neutral description. It appears mainly in historical novels, period drama, and comic imitation of archaic speech. Modern writers should be aware it is derogatory toward women.
Easily confused with doxie
"Doxy" is simply the more common spelling of the same word, not a different term.
A doxology is a liturgical formula of praise to God, sharing only the Greek element "doxa" (glory) in sound, not meaning.