dairy

[dair-ee]

noun, plural dair·ies for 1–4.

an establishment, as a room, building, or buildings, where milk and cream are kept and butter and cheese are made.

a shop or company that sells milk, butter, etc.

the business of a dairy farm, concerned with the production and treatment of milk and cream and the manufacture of butter and cheese.

dairy farm.

milk, or products made from or containing milk; dairy products, as butter and cheese: He avoids red meat, processed foods, and dairy in his diet.

(in Jewish dietary law) foods, including all milk products, eggs, fish, vegetables, etc., that may be eaten at a meal in which milk is served, in contrast to meat and meat products, which may not.

adjective

of or relating to a dairy or a dairy farm.

relating to or for milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc.: dairy products; the dairy case at a supermarket.

(in Jewish dietary law) of or relating to dairy, in contrast to meat and meat products.

Origin of dairy

1250–1300; Middle English daierie, equivalent to daie, deie dairymaid (Old English dǣge bread maker; cognate with Old Norse deigja; see lady) + -erie -ery

Can be confuseddairy diary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dairies

farm, buttery, factory, creamery

Examples from the Web for dairies

Historical Examples of dairies

I superintend the dairies; the butter and the cheese are the produce of my industry.
Imogen
William Godwin
The inhabitants are supported by manufactures, grazing and dairies.
The Story of My Life
Egerton Ryerson
Then there are the dairies, with coffee, a unique institution.
All About Coffee
William H. Ukers
The Bretons also say that there are spirits who silently skim the milk-pans in the dairies.
The Fairy Mythology
Thomas Keightley
I have also been told that there are Gipsies in the county of Kent, who have hop farms and dairies.
A History of the Gipsies
Walter Simson

British Dictionary definitions for dairies

dairy

noun plural dairies

a company that supplies milk and milk products

a shop that sells provisions, esp milk and milk products
NZa shop that remains open outside normal trading hours

a room or building where milk and cream are stored or made into butter and cheese

(modifier)of or relating to the production of milk and milk productsdairy cattle
(in combination)a dairymaid; a dairyman

food containing milk or milk productsshe can't eat dairy
(as modifier)dairy produce

Word Origin for dairy

C13 daierie, from Old English dǣge servant girl, one who kneads bread; see dough, lady

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dairies

dairy

late 13c., "building for making butter and cheese; dairy farm," formed with Anglo-French -erie affixed to Middle English daie (in daie maid "dairymaid"), from Old English dæge "kneader of bread, housekeeper, female servant" (see dey (n.1)). The purely native word was dey-house.