donkey
Syllables: don·key/ˈdɒŋ.ki//ˈdɑŋ.ki/
donkey noun: a domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse.
Noun
donkey (plural donkeys or (obsolete) donkies)
- A domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse.
- Lost last Saturday between twenty and thirty shillings they that have found it please to leave it heare there is five shillings reward by Wm. Roberts that goeth with a Donkey with many thanks1776 August 24, “[untitled]”, in Ipswich Journal, Ipswich, Suffolk, page 1
- DONKEY, donkey dick, a he, or jack ass, called donkey, perhaps from the Spanish, or don like gravity of that animal, entitled also the king of Spain's trumpeter1785, Anonymous [Francis Grose], A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, London: S. Hooper
- Synonyms:
- Jerusalem pony
- A stubborn person.
- A fool.
- A small auxiliary engine.
- Synonyms:
- donkey engine
- A box or chest, especially a toolbox.
- A bad poker player.
- A sailor's storage chest.
- The chest may be found among those who stick to the sailing vessels, but for the steamer, the donkey died its natural death when the Suez Canal—responsible for many changes at sea—became an accomplished fact.1903, W. H. Hood, The Blight of Insubordination, page 80
donkey meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
donkey in Hindi
- a domestic animal — see also ass
- गधा gadhā, हिमार himār
- a fool
- गधा gadhā
donkey in Tamil
- a domestic animal — see also ass
- கழுதை kaḻutai
donkey in Marathi
- a domestic animal — see also ass
- गाढव gāḍhav
donkey in Urdu
- a domestic animal — see also ass
- گَدھا gadhā, حِمار himār
- a fool
- گَدھا gadhā
More languagesFewer languages
- donkey in Bengali
- গাধা gadha
- donkey in Telugu
- గాడిద gāḍida
- donkey in Malayalam
- കഴുത kaḻuta
- donkey in Kannada
- ಕತ್ತೆ katte
- donkey in Punjabi
- ਖੋਤਾ khotā, کھوتا khotā
- donkey in Gujarati
- ગધેડો gadheḍo
- donkey in Odia
- ଗଧ gadha
- donkey in Sanskrit
- गर्दभ gardabha
- donkey in Sinhala
- බූරුවා būruwā
- donkey in Assamese
- গাধ gadh
- donkey in Nepali
- गधा gadhā
- donkey in Pashto
- خر xar
- donkey in Tagalog
- asno, buriko
- donkey in Arabic
- حِمَار ḥimār
- donkey in Malay
- keldai, himar
- donkey in Indonesian
- keledai
- donkey in Thai
- ลา laa
- donkey in Vietnamese
- lừa
- donkey in Myanmar
- မြည်း mrany:
- Sindhi
- گَڏَهُه gaḏahu
- Dhivehi
- ހިާމރު
- Kashmiri
- خَر khar
Examples of donkey in a sentence
- In that era, most of the equipment in this mine was run by donkey power.
- Whenever I walked by, that donkey brayed at me.
- If you feel tired of walking, just think of the poor donkey who has carried the brunt of our load.
Synonyms of donkey
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of donkey
| plural | donkeys |
|---|---|
| plural (obsolete) | donkies |
| alternative form (obsolete) | donky |
Origin of donkey
The origin is uncertain. Originally a slang term from the late eighteenth century. Perhaps from Middle English *donekie (“a miniature dun horse”), a double diminutive of Middle English don, dun, dunne (a name for a dun horse), equivalent to modern English dun (“brownish grey colour”) + -ock (diminutive suffix) + -ie (diminutive suffix), or similarly formed from the given name Duncan. Compare Middle English donning (“a dun horse”), English dunnock. Became more common than the original term ass due to the latter's homophony and partial merger with arse (compare similar development between coney and rabbit).
Words formed from donkey
- African wild donkey
- antidonkey
- Balkan donkey
- Buridan's donkey
- dead donkey
- donkey anaphora
- donkeyback
- donkey bean
- donkey bid
- donkey boiler
- donkey-boy
- donkey cock
- donkeycock
- donkeydick
- donkey dick
- donkey drop
- donkey ears
- donkey engine
- donkey fringe
- donkeyfucker
- donkeyhood
- donkeyish
- donkeyism
- donkey jacket
- donkey kick
- Donkey Kong
- donkeyman
- donkey orchid
- donkeypower
- donkey power
- donkey pronoun
- donkey pump
- donkey-punch
- donkey punch
- donkey rhubarb
- donkey route
- donkey's ears
- donkey sentence
- donkey's eye
- donkeyshit
- donkey shoe
- donkey show
- donkey stone
- donkey stool
- donkey's years
- donkey vote
- donkey voter
- donkey work
- donkra
- heavy as a dead donkey
- hung like a donkey
- jack donkey
- miniature donkey
- nodding donkey
- pin the tail on the donkey
- Sardinian donkey
- sea donkey
- Spanish donkey
- steam donkey
- suck donkey balls
Phrases with donkey
- donkey boy
- donkey bids
- donkey boys
- donkey beans
- donkey cocks
- donkey dicks
- donkey drops
- donkey kicks
- donkey kongs
- donkey pumps
- donkey shoes
- donkey shows
39 more phrasesFewer phrases
- donkey votes
- swamp donkey
- donkey routes
- donkey stones
- donkey stools
- donkey voters
- donkey boilers
- donkey engines
- donkey fringes
- donkey jackets
- donkey orchids
- donkey punched
- donkey punches
- donkey pronouns
- donkey punching
- donkey anaphoras
- donkey sentences
- suck donkey cock
- suck donkey dick
- sucks donkey cock
- sucked donkey cock
- sucks donkey balls
- up goes the donkey
- on like Donkey Kong
- sucked donkey balls
- sucking donkey cock
- sucking donkey balls
- talk the ears off a donkey
- talks the ears off a donkey
- talked the ears off a donkey
- talking the ears off a donkey
- talk the hind leg off a donkey
- talk the hind legs off a donkey
- talks the hind leg off a donkey
- talked the hind leg off a donkey
- talks the hind legs off a donkey
- talked the hind legs off a donkey
- talking the hind leg off a donkey
- talking the hind legs off a donkey
Words that rhyme with donkey
Questions about donkey
- What does donkey mean?
- Donkey means a domestic animal, Equus asinus asinus, similar to a horse.
- What is donkey in Hindi?
- Donkey in Hindi is गधा (gadhā), हिमार (himār). See Donkey meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is donkey?
- Donkey is a noun.
- How do you pronounce donkey?
- Donkey is pronounced /ˈdɒŋ.ki/ (UK).
- What is the plural of donkey?
- The plural of donkey is donkeys.
Words near donkey in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: donkey (page history and authors); गधा (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-donkey.ogg, en-us-donkey.ogg.
Cite this entry: “donkey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/donkey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.