What we need is a historical reverse dictionary of meanings. 'Doll' was only used in the modern sense from about 1700 (and was cant at first); 'poppet' was used in this sense from about the fifteenth century; so what did English children play with before?
What we need is a historical reverse dictionary of meanings. 'Doll' was only used in the modern sense from about 1700 (and was cant at first); 'poppet' was used in this sense from about the fifteenth century; so what did English children play with before?