Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

DECOY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 915 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

DECOY , a contrivance for the See also:

capture or enticing of See also:duck and other See also:wild See also:fowl within range of a See also:gun, hence any See also:trap or enticement into a See also:place or situation of danger. Decoys are usually made on the following See also:plan: See also:long tunnels leading from the See also:sea, channel or See also:estuary into a See also:pool or See also:pond are covered with an arched See also:net, which gradually narrows in width; the ducks are enticed into this by a tame trained See also:bird, also known as a " decoy " or " decoy-duck." In See also:America the " decoy " is an artificial bird, placed in the See also:water as if it were feeding, which attracts the wild fowl within range of the concealed sportsman. The word " decoy " has, etymologically, a complicated See also:history. It appears in See also:English first in the 17th See also:century in these senses as " coy " and " coy-duck," from the Dutch kooi, a word which is ultimately connected with Latin See also:cavea, hollow place, " cage."' The de-, with which the word begins, is either a corruption of " duck-coy," the Dutch See also:article de, or a corruption of the Dutch eende-kooi, eende, duck. The New English See also:Dictionary points out that the word " decoy " is found in the particular sense of a sharper or swindler as a See also:slang See also:term slightly earlier than " coy " or " decoy " in the See also:ordinary sense, and, as the name of a See also:game of See also:cards, as See also:early as 1550, apparently with no connexion in meaning. It is suggested that " coy " may have been adapted to this word.

End of Article: DECOY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
DECORATED PERIOD 		[next]
DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat....

Site © 2006 - Net Industries