New American Oxford Dictionary
derring-do
der ring-do |ˌderiNGˈdo͞o ˈˌdɛrɪŋ ˈˌdu | ▶noun dated, humorous action displaying heroic courage: tales of derring-do. ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from late Middle English dorryng do ‘daring to do, ’ used by Chaucer, and, in a passage by Lydgate based on Chaucer's work, misprinted in 16th -cent. editions as derrynge do; this was misinterpreted by Spenser to mean ‘manhood, chivalry, ’ and subsequently taken up and popularized by Sir Walter Scott.
Oxford Dictionary
derring-do
derring-do |ˌdɛrɪŋˈduː | ▶noun [ mass noun ] dated or humorous action displaying heroic courage: tales of derring-do. ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from late Middle English dorryng do ‘daring to do ’, used by Chaucer, and, in a passage by Lydgate based on Chaucer's work, misprinted in 16th -cent. editions as derrynge do; this was misinterpreted by Spenser to mean ‘manhood, chivalry ’, and subsequently taken up and popularized by Sir Walter Scott.
American Oxford Thesaurus
derring-do
derring-do noun dated or humorous what Sir Bluebonnet lacks in physical stature, he hilariously makes up for in charisma and derring-do. See spunk. USAGE derring-do Derring-do (= daring action ) derives, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, from a “chain of misunderstandings and errors.” Originally, the term was dorryng do, a verb phrase meaning “daring to do. ” A sixteenth-century misprint in the poetry of John Lydgate (ca. 1370 –1450 ) made it derrynge do, which Spenser (1579 ) misunderstood and used as a noun phrase meaning “manhood, chivalry. ” Then Sir Walter Scott popularized the phrase in Ivanhoe (1820 ) with the spelling derring-do, and this has been the settled spelling ever since. But because of its historical and modern associations with daring, writers often use the erroneous spelling daring-do —e.g.: “Instead, it is also called ‘Flower Flange ’ and has more to do with flowers than fighting and daring-do [read derring-do ].” ( Knoxville News-Sentinel; Sept. 25, 1998.).Usage notes show additional guidance on finer points of English usage.
Sanseido Wisdom Dictionary
derring-do
der ring-do /dèrɪŋdúː /名詞 U ｟古 おどけて ｠大胆さ, 勇敢さ ▸ deeds of derring-do 勇敢な行為
The Wordsmith Dictionary