Etymologically
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drainage

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdɹeɪnəd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from English drain + -age in English, from the verb drain and the noun suffix -age.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or work of draining land or water: 1652, in a record of the drainage of the Isle of Axholme,[2][6] the 1650s in Etymonline.[3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1645–55.[5]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the act of draining, especially of marshy land,[2][6] and also the gradual drawing off of anything, as of money from a purse.[7][4] From 1834 it was used for what a system of drains carries away, that is, sewage,[2][7] and by 1860, according to Etymonline, for the water carried off by a system of rivers.[3] A river valley or area drained, a drainage basin, is recorded from 1866,[2] chiefly in American use,[4] and the system of drains itself, artificial or natural, from 1877.[7][3] In gardening the word has meant, since 1892, the broken crocks or other porous material put at the bottom of a flowerpot so that water can run out.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 1652 – the action or work of draining.[2][6]
  • 1834 – what is drained off; sewage.[2]
  • 1860 – the water carried off by a system of rivers.[3]
  • 1866 – an area drained; a drainage basin.[2]
  • 1877 – a system of drains.[7][3]
  • 1892 – porous material used to drain a flowerpot.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or process of draining water or another liquid from a place: Drainage of the bog took three summers.
  2. A system of drains, pipes or natural watercourses that carries water away: The new estate has poor drainage.
  3. Liquid that has been drained away, especially sewage.
  4. (chiefly US) An area drained by a river and its tributaries; a drainage basin.

Word family

  • overdrainage
  • underdrainage
  • drainageway
  • drainage basin

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)