IV: Coyly, he asks: Did this come up about Coy during our read?

[David Payne]

Coy and decoy seem to have different origins.
 
According to The online etymology diction (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=coy&searchmode=nonesays), decoy comes from Dutch, de kooi, meaning the cage, whereas coy comes from the French coi, which goes back to O.Fr. quei, which goes back to L. quietus, "resting, at rest."
 
The online OED says pretty much the same thing, although it adds one more etymology in reference to the obsolete meaning of coy as a sink (noted with a question mark for some reason): Moving back through the French "coy", it traces back to something that literally means "quiet or retired ditch".
 
On Mon, 9 Aug 2010 19:54:52 -0700, markekohut at yahoo.com, asked:

> Coy, meanings of, from the OED....I read in a footnote to a Shakespeare play
> that the root of coy also comes from roots that mean to deceive, common in
> Shakespeare's
> time. As in decoy.
>
> There is more but I can't find the footnote now. Anyone have OED access?