Other forms: doles
The dole is money paid by the state to those out of work. On the dole, sign on for the dole, dole queue.
It is British, informal and slightly disparaging, which is why official language never uses it. Dole queue is the image the word carries from the 1930s. The older meaning is a share handed out, and to dole out is to distribute in portions.
1noundoleMoney paid by the state to those out of work.
“After the factory closed, he was on the dole for almost a year.”
dole is a payment.
Old English dal means a portion or share, from a Germanic root. Deal is the same word.
Proto-Indo-European
*dʰayl- — part, watershed
Proto-Germanic
*dailą — part, deal
Old English
dāl — portion, share, division, allotment
Middle English
dol
English, today
dole
From Middle English dol, from Old English dāl (“portion, share, division, allotment”), from Proto-Germanic dailą (“part, deal”), from Proto-Indo-European dʰayl- (“part, watershed”). Cognate with Polish dola (“fate, cut”), cu дѣлити (“divide”). More at deal. late 12th c. The verb is mid-15th c.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA