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dairy

[dair-ee]
noun, plural dair·ies for 1–4.
  1. an establishment, as a room, building, or buildings, where milk and cream are kept and butter and cheese are made.
  2. a shop or company that sells milk, butter, etc.
  3. the business of a dairy farm, concerned with the production and treatment of milk and cream and the manufacture of butter and cheese.
  4. dairy farm.
  5. 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.
  6. (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.
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adjective
  1. of or relating to a dairy or a dairy farm.
  2. relating to or for milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc.: dairy products; the dairy case at a supermarket.
  3. (in Jewish dietary law) of or relating to dairy, in contrast to meat and meat products.
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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. 2018

Related Words

farmbutteryfactorycreamery

Examples from the Web for dairies

Historical Examples

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for dairies

dairy

noun plural dairies
  1. a company that supplies milk and milk products
    1. a shop that sells provisions, esp milk and milk products
    2. NZa shop that remains open outside normal trading hours
  3. a room or building where milk and cream are stored or made into butter and cheese
    1. (modifier)of or relating to the production of milk and milk productsdairy cattle
    2. (in combination)a dairymaid; a dairyman
    1. food containing milk or milk productsshe can't eat dairy
    2. (as modifier)dairy produce
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Word Origin

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

n.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper