drop

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /drɒp/, US /drɑːp/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English drope,^[2][3] inherited from Old English dropa (“a small spherical mass of liquid”),^[2][4] from Proto-Germanic *drupon,^[2][4] the source also of Old Saxon dropo, Old Norse dropi, Dutch drop and German Tropfen.^[2][5] The verb is Old English dropian, from the same source.^[2][5][4] They belong to a family of Germanic verbs that includes Old English drēopan “to drip”, German triefen, and English drip and droop,^[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *dhreu-.^[7][4] Barnhart connects them with Gothic driusan “to fall” and with dreary.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English dropa is found about 725, in a translation of the Book of Daniel,^[4] and the verb dropian about 1000.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English drope was also a disease marked by spots, about 1150.^[4] “The smallest quantity of anything” is from about 1200.^[2] A solid object falling vertically, of the verb, is from the late 14th century (1377),^[2][8] and “to let fall” from the mid-14th century.^[2] A drop in the bucket is from the late 14th century, from Isaiah 40:15.^[2] Drop in, “to visit casually”, is from about 1600,^[2] and drop someone a line from 1769, from dropping a letter in a letter box.^[2] An act of dropping is from the 1630s, and a fall in prices or temperature from the mid-19th century.^[2] A hard sweet, from its shape, is from 1723.^[2] The theatre's drop curtain, lowered between scenes, is by 1779.^[2] At the drop of a hat is from 1854,^[2] and to get the drop on is Old West gunslinger slang, 1869.^[2] A place where things are left secretly to be collected is from 1931.^[2] Drop dead! is from 1934, and the adjective drop-dead, “stunning”, by 1970.^[2] Since the 1920s people have dropped bricks, and since the 1940s clangers.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English dropa.^[4]
• c. 1000 – verb, to fall in drops.^[4]
• c. 1200 – the smallest quantity.^[2]
• mid-14th century – to let fall.^[2]
• late 14th century – a drop in the bucket.^[2]
• c. 1600 – drop in.^[2]
• 1723 – a hard sweet.^[2]
• 1769 – drop someone a line.^[2]
• 1854 – at the drop of a hat.^[2]
• 1934 – drop dead!.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A small round mass of liquid.
2. A very small amount: not a drop of sympathy.
3. (plural) Liquid medicine given in drops.
4. A decrease: a drop in prices.
5. A steep descent, or the distance of a fall.
6. A small round sweet.
7. A place where things are left secretly to be collected.

Verb

1. To fall or let fall.
2. To fall in drops.
3. To become lower or less.
4. To let someone out of a vehicle: drop me at the station.
5. To give up or abandon: drop the subject.
6. To leave out; to omit.

Word family

• droppable
• droplike

Related words

• drip
• droop
• dreary
• droplet
• dropper
• dropout
• raindrop
• teardrop
• dewdrop

References

1. ^ 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 n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press