dank

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dank, also danke, an adjective and noun,^[2][3] with the verb danken (“to moisten”), also donken, recorded earlier.^[2][4][5] Most dictionaries take it as probably of Scandinavian origin,^{[6][7][8][9][10][3][2]} comparing Swedish dank (“marshy spot (dialectal)”) and Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, pool”),^{[11][9][12][2]} as well as dänka (“to moisten”).^[5][13][14] Klein and Merriam-Webster also relate it to the Germanic words for "dark", Old Norse dǫkkr, Old Saxon dunkar, Old High German tunkal and German dunkel;^[13][3] the OED holds that these must be kept apart, and calls the etymology uncertain.^[4] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart compare Latvian danga (“mudhole”),^[3][11] and Merriam-Webster also Hittite dankuiš (“dark”) and dim;^[3] Barnhart derives the group from Proto-Indo-European *dhongwā, from the root Proto-Indo-European *dhem-.^[11] Etymonline also considers a Germanic source, comparing Middle High German damph and Dutch damp (“vapour”),^[5] but according to the OED there is no original connection between dank and damp.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a verb, to wet or moisten, said of dew: before 1350, in the Harley Lyrics, "Deawes donkeþ þe dounes".^[2][4] The adjective, wet, of dew, follows about 1400 in the Morte Arthure, "Þe dewe þat es daunke".^[2][4][11] The OED notes that the early quotations for both refer to dew.^[4][15]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word meant simply wet or watery,^[2][12] and was used of dew, rain and clouds until about 1600.^[4] From the 16th century it took on the sense "unpleasantly damp", first of substances and surfaces (Tusser, 1573) and then of fog, air and weather (1601).^[4][12] From 1735 it was used of marshes and soaking ground, and in the 19th century, perhaps by association with rank, often of rank weeds growing in damp places.^[4] Johnson (1755) glossed it "damp; humid; moist; wet", quoting Shakespeare and Milton.^[16] In recent times damp has taken on the sense of dank and largely replaced it.^[4][5][15] The verb was also used figuratively, to damp someone's spirits, from 1565, later only in dialect;^[4] the English Dialect Dictionary records this in Lancashire, and the adjective, damp and unhealthy, in the north of England, Lancashire and Berkshire.^[17] In slang, dank meant "bad, unpleasant" from 1933, at first in American campus speech; from 1989 it was used for "excellent", on the model of bad meaning good, and it was applied especially to strong marijuana, which dank also names as a noun from 1995.^[18]

Timeline

• before 1350 – the verb, to moisten, of dew.^[4][2]
• c. 1400 – adjective, wet, of dew; noun, wetness, damp.^[4][2]
• before 1522 – noun, a wet place, a pool or marsh.^[4]
• 1565 – the verb in a figurative sense, to depress the spirits.^[4]
• 1573 – unpleasantly damp, of substances or surfaces.^[4]
• 1601 – of fog, air or weather.^[4]
• 1820 – of rank grass or weeds in damp places.^[4]
• 1933 – slang, bad, unpleasant.^[18]
• 1989 – slang, excellent.^[18]
• 1995 – noun, slang, strong marijuana.^[18]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unpleasantly damp and chilly, especially of a closed place: a dank basement.^[8][3][4]
2. Rank; smelling of damp and decay.^[3][4]
3. (slang) Excellent, of high quality, originally of marijuana.^[18]
4. (slang) Bad, unpleasant.^[18]

Noun

1. Moisture, wetness; also a wet place, a marsh.^[3][4] The OED records these senses only to 1602 and 1667.^[4]
2. (slang) Strong marijuana.^[18]

Verb

1. (obsolete, 1350–1634) To wet or moisten, of dew or mist.^[4][2][9]

Word family

• dankly
• dankness

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
15. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com