drunk

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English drunke, also dronke,^[2][3] a shortening of the past participle drunken,^[2][4][5] inherited from Old English druncen, past participle of drincan (“to drink”).^[3][6][5] It continues Proto-Germanic *drunkanaz,^[7] and is cognate with Old Saxon drunkan, Old High German truncan and Old Norse drukkinn,^[5][7] participles which, Hoad notes, all had the same active meaning "having drunk".^[5] It is the past participle, and formerly a past tense, of drink.^[8][9] The verb itself is from Proto-Germanic *drinkaną, whose further origin Orel calls unknown.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Figuratively, intoxicated: 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[9] In the literal sense, overcome by alcoholic drink, the OED's first quotation is from the Cursor Mundi, before 1400;^[9] Etymonline dates the adjective to the mid-14th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer already compared a drunk man to a mouse (about 1386), the first of many proverbial similes such as drunk as a wheelbarrow (1709) and drunk as a lord.^[8][9] Medieval folklore, according to Etymonline, distinguished four stages of drunkenness after the animals they made men resemble: sheep, lion, ape and sow.^[8] From 1382 to 1697 the word could describe a thing drenched or saturated,^[9][8] and since 1585 a person stupefied by opium or tobacco.^[9] The noun appeared first as "a drinking bout", in 1779, in a letter that reports it from American soldiers,^[9][10] then as "a drunken person" from 1852, for which earlier English used drunkard.^[8][9] Drunk driver is attested by 1912 for motorists.^[8] In standard English the adjective is now used almost only after the verb, but in Scots and northern dialect it was still used before the noun.^[9] In Nottinghamshire dialect drunk could also mean "fed up with work" or "dazed from a blow".^[11]

Timeline

• 1340 – figuratively, intoxicated, carried away.^[9]
• 1382 – of a thing, drenched, saturated (obsolete by 1697).^[9][8]
• c. 1386 – dronke as a mous, in Chaucer.^[8]
• before 1400 – intoxicated with alcohol.^[9]
• 1585 – stupefied by opium or tobacco.^[9]
• 1779 – noun, a drinking bout.^[9][10][2]
• 1852 – noun, a drunken person.^[9][8]
• 1912 – drunk driver;^[8] drunk tank in American English.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having drunk so much alcohol that one loses control of one's body or mind; intoxicated: He was too drunk to find his keys.^[12][2][9]
2. Overwhelmed by a strong feeling or influence: drunk with power.^[12][2][9]

Noun

1. A person who is drunk, or who habitually drinks too much; a drunkard.^[12][2][9]
2. (informal) A drinking bout; a spree.^[12][2][10]

Word family

• drunkard
• drunken
• drunkometer
• punch-drunk
• undrunk
• drunk driving
• drunk tank

Related words

• drink
• drench

Usage notes

Both drunk and drunken can stand before a noun naming a person (a drunk passenger, a drunken sailor), but only drunk follows a linking verb (he was drunk), and drunken is almost always the one used with nouns that do not name people (a drunken brawl).^[6] In legal language drunk describes a person whose blood alcohol exceeds the permitted level, as in drunk driving.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins