Etymologically
Log in

drain

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɹeɪn/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English dreynen, inherited from Old English drēahnian (“to draw off gradually; strain out”), drēhnian,[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *drauʒnōjanan, apparently from the root of dry and drought,[3][2][5][6] giving the word an original sense of to make dry.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To strain or filter a liquid: about 1000 in Barnhart and the OED.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that the word seems to have disappeared after the Old English period and reappeared in the 16th century,[3] although Trevisa has dreynen, to strain, before 1398.[3] To draw off liquid gradually is from 1538 in the OED (1440 in Barnhart).[7][3] To flow off gradually is from 1587 (the 1580s),[7][2] and to drink to the last drop from 1602.[7] Figuratively, to exhaust, it is from about 1660 (the 1650s).[3][2] The noun, a channel or pipe for carrying off water, is from 1372 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.[3][2] A gradual outflow of money or resources is from 1721,[2] and the colloquial down the drain, wasted, by 1930.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – to strain.[3]
  • 1372 – a channel (noun).[3]
  • 1538 – to draw off liquid.[7]
  • c. 1660 – to exhaust.[3]
  • 1721 – a drain on resources.[2]
  • 1930 – down the drain.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To draw off a liquid gradually, or to empty something of liquid.
  2. To flow away or become empty.
  3. To drink the whole contents of.
  4. To use up or exhaust gradually.

Noun

  1. A pipe or channel that carries away water or sewage.
  2. Something that steadily uses up resources or energy.
  3. (surgery) A tube inserted to let fluid escape from a wound.

Word family

  • drainable
  • drainer
  • underdrain
  • drainboard
  • drainless
  • drainpipe
  • overdrain
  • drainage

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press