draw

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /drɔː/, US /drɑː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English drawen, earlier dragen,^[2][3] inherited from Old English dragan (“to drag, draw, protract”),^[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *draganan “to draw, pull”,^[4][2] the source also of Old Norse draga “to drag, pull”, Old Saxon dragan and Old High German tragan (German tragen) “to carry”, and Gothic gadragan.^[4][2][5] It is from Proto-Indo-European *dhregh-,^[4][2] as are Russian doroga and Polish droga “road”.^[2][3] Many of its uses copy Latin trahere, but the two are not related.^[2] The spelling with w came about because a + g in the Old English stem became a diphthong.^[2] It is related to drag and draught.^[4][6] The noun is from the verb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pull, tug: Old English dragan, before 900, in Alfred's Pastoral Care;^[2] Middle English drawen is from about 1200.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

“To pull out a weapon” is from the late 12th century, of a sword.^[4] About 1200 it meant “to trace a line or figure”, by drawing a pen across a surface,^[2][4] and “to pull a bowstring”.^[4] Dragging a criminal at a horse's tail to execution is drawing from about 1300,^[4] and selecting a lot from about 1300.^[4] Of a ship, “to displace water”, is from the 1550s, and draw out, “to prolong”, also from the 1550s.^[4] “To attract a crowd” is from the 1580s.^[4] In cards, “to take a card”, is by 1772, and to draw the line figuratively by 1793.^[4] The noun meant an act of pulling about 1400;^[4] a game ending without a winner is first in drawn match (1610s), perhaps from withdraw,^[4] and an attraction that draws a crowd from 1881.^[4]

Timeline

• before 900 – to pull.^[2]
• late 12th century – to draw a sword.^[4]
• c. 1200 – to draw a line.^[2][4]
• c. 1300 – to draw lots.^[4]
• c. 1400 – noun, an act of pulling.^[4]
• 1580s – to attract a crowd.^[4]
• 1610s – drawn match.^[4]
• 1793 – draw the line.^[4]
• 1881 – an attraction.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make a picture or diagram with lines.
2. To pull or drag; to move by pulling: draw the curtains.
3. To take out: draw a sword, draw money from the bank.
4. To attract: the show drew large crowds.
5. To move steadily: the train drew into the station.
6. To end a game with neither side winning.
7. To reach a conclusion: draw a lesson.

Noun

1. A game that ends without a winner; a tie.
2. The choosing of lots; a lottery.
3. An attraction that draws a crowd.

Word family

• drawable
• drawcard
• drawdown
• redraw
• quick draw

Related words

• drag
• draught
• draft
• dray
• drawer
• drawing
• withdraw

Usage notes

The past tense is drew and the past participle drawn.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b 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 x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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