Most people know that the word decoy generally means a lure of some kind. But its origin and extended meanings have some surprises.
Decoy entered the English language in the early 17th century. It comes from Dutch de kooi, literally “the cage,” with kooi based on Latin cavea (“cage”).
The original meaning of decoy was a pond or pool having net-covered channels into which wildfowl, such as ducks, were lured for capture. For a while, the short form coy was used with the same meaning.
The usual technique for hunters at a decoy was to employ live birds that were trained to lure others of their kind into the netting of the pond, where the wild birds would be trapped. Such a trained bird was named, after the trap itself, a decoy. One observer of the time described the procedure: “Wilde Ducks, that are tamed and made Decoyes, to intice and betray their fellows” (1661, Oxford English Dictionary).
The trained duck was also known by the names coy, coy duck, and decoy duck.
The literal senses (trap and bird) of decoy had barely entered English when figurative extensions developed. A person who enticed another into any kind of danger was a decoy. The other forms of the term-coy, coy duck, and decoy duck– were also used in this extended sense, as in “You are worse than simple widgeons, and will be drawn into the net by this decoy-duck, this tame cheater” (1625, Oxford).
Decoy was used as an attributive in many frequently used terms. For example, a decoy man (1775, Oxford) was one who took care of a decoy (trap). Beginning in World World War I, the term decoy ship (1915, Oxford) meant one that was used to decoy, or lure, enemy vessels.
Today the word decoy has a wide range of literal and figurative meanings.
It is, for example, still applied to a pond used as a trap.
Nowadays, live trained birds are seldom used as lures. Their place has been taken by artificial birds that are set out to attract live wild birds within shooting range. Such an artificial bird is called a decoy.
Broadly, anyone or anything used to lure or lead another into a trap is a decoy. For example, a person employed to lead another into a position to be harmed in some way is a decoy. A promise of financial gain might be a decoy luring a victim into being swindled.
Someone or something used to draw attention away from another is also a decoy. For example, “The attack on his friend was a decoy to get Hoppy out of town during the mine robbery.” In warfare fake vehicles and airfields are decoys luring the enemy into wasting bombs on harmless targets.
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Lyman, Darryl. Dictionary of Animal Words and Phrases. Middle Village, New York: Jonathan David Publishers, 1994.
The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.
