drudge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɹʌd͡ʒ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English druggen (“to labour”),^[2][3][4][5] apparently related to Old English drēogan (“to work, suffer, endure”).^[2][3][4] It is related to Old Norse drýgja “to accomplish” and Gothic driugan “to serve as a soldier”.^[3][4] Barnhart notes that the spelling drudge implies an Old English *drycgean, which is not recorded.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To do menial or monotonous work (about 1385).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The noun, one employed in servile or distasteful work, followed in 1494,^[6][3][4] and drudgery in 1550.^[3] The sense has stayed close to the original.^[6][2][5]

Timeline

• before 1250 – druggunge, drudging.^[3][4]
• about 1385 – verb, to do menial work.^[3][4]
• 1494 – noun, a toiler at servile work.^[6][3][4]
• 1550 – drudgery.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who does tedious, menial or hard work.
2. A person whose work is dull and routine.
3. Tedious work; drudgery.

Verb

1. To do tedious, menial or unpleasant work; to toil.

Word family

• drudger
• drudgingly
• drudgery

Related words

• dree

Usage notes

Random House gives toil, hack, grub, plod and slave as synonyms.^[7] The American Heritage Dictionary notes that oyster fishermen on Chesapeake Bay pronounce dredge as drudge.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House