1. Archaic, sorrow, grief, sadness, misery; dolor: Mrs. Smith felt the dole of the relatives of the deceased grandfather when she entered the room..
2. Etymology: via Old French dol, "mourning, grieving" from Vulgar Latin dolus which came from Latin dolere, "to grieve, to suffer pain".

1. A regular sum of money paid by the government to someone who is unemployed: Jack received his dole, or unemployment benefits, every two weeks.
2. The charitable provision of clothes, money, or food to someone who is in need: A dole can be donated or provided by an individual, or individuals, or by an organized charity.
3. Primarily British, the distribution by the government of relief payments to the unemployed; welfare: A dole, or money, is given to those who are very poor, or who do not have jobs.
4. Etymology: dole is something given or dealt out and comes from Old English daelan and from a Germanic base dail-, which also is the basis for the English word deal. By the 14th century, this developed into the more specific "portion (of money, clothing, food, etc.) handed out as a charitable donation to those in need". The phrase on the dole, "receiving government benefits", was first recorded in the 1920's. In the 15th century, the verb dole, "to distribute" was in use, then the modern usage, to dole out, came into existence in the 18th century. —Compiled from information located in Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto; Arcade Publishing; New York; 1990. and The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, Robert K. Barnhart, Editor; The H.W. Wilson Company; 1988.