dobro

Etymology

From the trade name "Dobro", used by Gibson Guitar Corporation, from Dopyera or Dopjera, name of the inventors + brothers, also punning on Slovak dobro (“good”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊbɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

dobro (plural dobros)

1. (music) An acoustic guitar with a metal resonator.

   Synonym: resonator guitar

   • 2007 January 21, Nate Chinen, “Dueling Banjos, Gospel Harmonies, Arabesques and Electric Eels”, in New York Times‎:

     The longest and most incandescent track is “Twilight Kingdom,” which includes Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on dobro and David Grier on guitar.

Anagrams

• boord, brood, droob

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech dobro, from Proto-Slavic *dobrъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdobro]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dob‧ro

Noun

dobro n (relational adjective dobrý)

1. good

   Antonym: zlo

Further reading

• “dobro”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “dobro”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “dobro” in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2025, slovnikcestiny.cz
• “dobro”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Verb

dobro

1. first-person singular present indicative of dobrar

Etymology

From Serbo-Croatian dobar, добар, from Proto-Slavic *dobrъ (“good”).

Adjective

dobro (feminine dobra, masculine plural dobros, feminine plural dobras)

1. (Balkan) good

   Synonym: bueno

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish dobro. By surface analysis, dobry +‎ -o.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbrɔ
• Syllabification: do‧bro
• Homophone: Dobro

Noun

dobro n

1. (uncountable) good, goodness (state or characteristic of being good)

   Antonym: zło

2. (countable, literary, chiefly in the plural) good (that which is produced, traded, bought, or sold)
3. (in the plural) estate (landed property owned or controlled by a government or a department of government)

Adverb

dobro (comparative lepiej, superlative najlepiej)

1. (Middle Polish) Synonym of dobrze

Further reading

• dobro in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• dobro in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese dobro, from Latin dūplus. Compare the borrowed doublet duplo.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

From dȍbar.

Etymology 3

From English dobro, in turn from Slovak dobro.

References

• “dobro”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025
• “dobro”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025
• “dobro”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025
• “dobro”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdo.bro/

Etymology 1

From the adjective dobrý.

Etymology 2

Further reading

• “dobro”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ̀ːbrɔ/

Adverb

dóbro (comparative bọ̑lje or bọ̑ljše, superlative nȁjbọ̑lje or nȁjbọ̑ljše)

1. well, good

   Antonym: slabọ̑

Further reading

• “dobro”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdobɾo/ [ˈd̪o.β̞ɾo]
• Rhymes: -obɾo
• Syllabification: do‧bro

Noun

dobro m (plural dobros)

1. dobro

Further reading

• “dobro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10