Dobermann

Meaning

1. A large breed of guard dog bred in Germany.

Etymology / origin

Borrowed from German Dobermann, from the name of Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann, who first developed this breed. Dobermann was born "Tobermann." Tobermann is derived from "Tober" (an Ashkenazic variant of Tauber) plus a suffixal -mann. Tauber is both the name of a river in Germany, and the German word for a pigeon (variant of Taube (“dove, pigeon”), formed [perhaps] to distinguish meaning.) The former is derived from Celtic, the latter from Proto-Germanic. See Dover, dove.

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