Dae

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A Scots dialect form of the verb meaning to perform an action or carry something out
2. In Scots, the everyday verb equivalent to the English 'to do', used to describe performing a task
3. The Scottish regional spelling of the common verb expressing the carrying out of an action

Etymology: Scots "dae" means "to do," and it is a sibling of English "do" rather than a borrowing from it. Both descend from Old English "dōn," but in the north of Britain the vowel and final consonant developed differently, producing the shorter, flatter form Scots speakers still use. The same family gives Scots "dinnae" (do not) and "didnae" (did not), in which "-nae" is the Scots form of "not" attached directly to the verb. Scots "dae" also does the same grammatical job as English "do" in questions and negatives, so "Whit dae ye want?" (What do you want?) is ordinary Scots grammar, not English imported into dialect speech.