The term “derring-do” came about through a chain of mistakes and misinterpretations. The Middle English version, “dorrying don,” was a verb phrase that meant “daring to do,” but it was misprinted as “derrynge do” in 16th-century writings. From there, it was mistaken as a noun by poet Edmund Spenser, who defined it as “manhood and chevalrie [chivalry].” Author Sir Walter Scott and several Romantic poets used it in their work and brought “derring-do,” meaning “acts of heroic courage,” into (somewhat) modern language.