A dove

[duhv] /dʌv/
noun
arthur, 1880–1946, u.s. painter.
rita, born 1952, u.s. poet and educator: u.s. poet laureate 1993.
dove1
/dʌv/
noun
any of various birds of the family columbidae, having a heavy body, small head, short legs, and long pointed wings: order columbiformes. they are typically smaller than pigeons related adjective columbine
(politics) a person opposed to war compare hawk1 (sense 3)
a gentle or innocent person: used as a term of endearment

a greyish-brown colour
(as adjective): dove walls

derived forms
dovelike, adjective
dovish, adjective
word origin
old english dūfe (unattested except as a feminine proper name); related to old saxon dūbva, old high german tūba
dove2
/dəʊv/
verb
(mainly us) a past tense of dive
dove
/dʌv/
noun
(christianity) the dove, a manifestation of the holy spirit (john 1:32)
dove
n.

probably from old english dufe- (found only in compounds), from proto-germanic -dubon (cf. old saxon duba, old norse dufa, swedish duva, middle dutch duve, dutch duif, old high german tuba, german taube, gothic -dubo), perhaps related to words for “dive,” in reference to its flight.

originally applied to all pigeons, now mostly restricted to the turtle dove. a symbol of gentleness from early christian times, also of the holy spirit (cf. gen. viii:8-12), and of peace and deliverance from anxiety; political meaning “person who advocates peace” attested by 1917, from the christian dove of peace.
v.

past tense of dive (q.v.).
noun

dear one; honey; love: there at once, my dove (1596+)
a person who advocates peace and nonviolence; an irenic soul (1962+)

related terms

turtledoves

in their wild state doves generally build their nests in the clefts of rocks, but when domesticated “dove-cots” are prepared for them (cant. 2:14; jer. 48:28; isa. 60:8). the dove was placed on the standards of the -ssyrians and babylonians in honour, it is supposed, of semiramis (jer. 25:38; vulg., “fierceness of the dove;” comp. jer. 46:16; 50:16). doves and turtle-doves were the only birds that could be offered in sacrifice, as they were clean according to the mosaic law (ge. 15:9; lev. 5:7; 12:6; luke 2:24). the dove was the harbinger of peace to noah (gen. 8:8, 10). it is often mentioned as the emblem of purity (ps. 68:13). it is a symbol of the holy spirit (gen. 1:2; matt. 3:16; mark 1:10; luke 3:22; john 1:32); also of tender and devoted affection (cant. 1:15; 2:14). david in his distress wished that he had the wings of a dove, that he might fly away and be at rest (ps. 55:6-8). there is a species of dove found at damascus “whose feathers, all except the wings, are literally as yellow as gold” (68:13).