a transliteration of Greek daimōn "lesser god, guiding spirit, tutelary deity," 1852; see demon. Employed to avoid the post-classical associations of demon. Related: Daimonic.

also daimio, former title of the chief feudal nobles of Japan, vassals of the mikado, 1839, from Japanese, literally "big name," from Chinese dai "great" + mio, myo "name."

c. 1300, deinte, "delightful, pleasing" (late 12c. as a surname), from dainty (n.); see below. Meaning evolved in Middle English to "choice, excellent" (late 14c.) to "delicately pretty, exhibiting exquisite taste or skill" (c. 1400). Sense of "fastidious, affectedly fine, weak, effeminate" is from 1570s. Related: Daintiness.

The noun is Middle English deinte "regard, affection" (mid-13c.), from c. 1300 as "excellence, elegance;" also "a luxury, a precious thing, fine food or drink;" from Anglo-French deinte, Old French deintie (12c.) "price, value," also "delicacy, pleasure," from Latin dignitatem (nominative dignitas) "greatness, rank, worthiness, worth, beauty," from dignus "worthy, proper, fitting," from PIE *dek-no-, from root *dek- "to take, accept."

c. 1300, deinteli, "sumptuously, with delicate attention to the palate;" late 14c., "elegantly, in a dainty manner," from dainty (adj.) + -ly (2).

alcoholic drink made with rum, citrus juice, and sugar, 1910, from Daiquiri, name of a river and village in eastern Cuba, said to be from a Taino word. Originally attested in promotional materials for Bacardi rum, headquartered in Santiago de Cuba, about 15 miles from Daiquiri. A 1910 advertisement instructs the reader to pronounce it "Die-kee-ree."

Three mining men of international reputation identified with the famous mines of Daiquiri, at the extreme easterly end of Cuba not far distant from Santiago, were imbibing an old-fashioned decoction at the Casa Grande, the Delmonico of that locale. One the partners of Bacardi joined them, and instead of spirits from Scotland asked for the product of Cuba, which aroused the curiosity of the others and led to a trial of the beverage, which was immediately pronounced excellent. Then and there it was most felicitously baptized ‘Daiquiri,’ from which place its fame and name has radiated in all directions. [John Vavasour Noel, 'Who Discovered "Bacardi" the Famous Cuban Drink?' in The South American, November 1916.]

Other early names for the drink include a Rum Flip and a Cuban Cocktail. A version with added grenadine existed by 1913. As a frozen drink by 1959.

c. 1300, daerie, "building for making butter and cheese; dairy farm," formed with Anglo-French -erie (from Latin -arius; see -ery) affixed to Middle English daie (in daie maid "dairymaid"), which is from Old English dæge "kneader of bread, housekeeper, female servant" (see dey (n.1)). The pure native word was dey-house (mid-14c.). Meaning "branch of farming concerned with the production of milk, butter, and cheese" is from 1670s. Later also "shop where milk, butter, etc. are sold."

common wildflower of Europe, growing in pastures and on mountainsides and cultivated in gardens, c. 1300, daiseie, from Old English dægesege, from dæges eage "day's eye;" see day (n.) + eye (n.). So called because the petals open at dawn and close at dusk. In Medieval Latin it was solis oculus "sun's eye." The use of dais eye for "the sun" is attested from early 15c.

Applied to similar plants in America, Australia, New Zealand. As a female proper name said to have been originally a pet form of Margaret (q.v.). Slang sense of "anything pretty, charming, or excellent" is by 1757.

Daisy-cutter first attested 1791, originally "a trotting horse," especially one that trots with low steps; later of cricket (1889) and baseball hits that skim along the ground. Daisy-chain is used in various figurative senses from 1856; the "group sex" sense is attested by 1941. Daisy-wheel for a removable printing unit in the form of a flat wheel is attested by 1974.

To push up daisies "be dead and buried" is from World War I:

"Pushing up the daisies now," said a soldier of his dead comrade. [The American Florist, vol. xlviii, March 31, 1917]

But association of the dead and the daisies is in "Ingoldsby" (1842):

Be kind to those dear little folks

     When our toes are turn'd up to the daisies!

1809, name of a group of native peoples from the American plains speaking a Siouan language, from Dakota dakhota "friendly" (the name often is translated as "allies"). Recorded by Lewis and Clark (1804) as Dar co tar; in western dialects of the Teton subgroup, Lakota, Lakhota; in Assiniboine dialect, Nakota, Nakhota. The north-central U.S. Dakota Territory was organized in 1861 and divided into North and South and admitted as two states in 1889. Related: Dakotan.

sort of vetch cultivated in the East Indies, 1690s, from Hindi dal "split pulse," from Sanskrit dala, from dal "to split."

one of the two lamas (along with the Panchen Lama, who was formerly known in English as the Tashi or Tesho Lama) of Tibetan Buddhism, spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, literally "the ocean lama," from Mongolian dalai "ocean" (here probably signifying "big," in contrast to the Panchen Lama) + lama.