dole [OE] A dole was originally a division or share, which in the Middle Ages developed the sense of ‘gift’, particularly of food, both senses surviving in modern English when we speak of doling out food to people. The dole for unemployment benefits appears in the early 20th century. To deal [OE] is closely related, but the sense of deal for a type of wood is Middle English from Middle Low German or Dutch dele ‘plank’.