dry

Pronunciation

• IPA: /draɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English drie,^[2][3] inherited from Old English drȳġe,^[4][5] from Proto-Germanic *draugiz,^[2][4] which is also the source of Middle Low German dröge, Middle Dutch drōge (Dutch droog), Old High German trucchan (German trocken) and probably Old Norse draugr “dry wood”,^[2][5][3] from a Germanic root *dreug- “dry”.^[2][4] Barnhart traces it to Proto-Indo-European *dhreugh-.^[5] It is related to drought and drug.^[5][4] The verb is inherited from Old English drȳgan, from the adjective.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 900 in King Alfred's translation of Boethius;^[5] in the OED, of the dry quality of the elements in medieval physiology, about 888,^[6] and “free from moisture” about 1000.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Of a season or climate, free from rain, is from 1297,^[6] and “barren” from the mid-14th century.^[2] Of persons, showing no emotion, is from about 1200,^[2] and of humour, said without show of pleasantry, from the early 15th century.^[2] “Uninteresting, tedious” is from the 1620s.^[2] Of wine or spirits, free from sweetness, is from 1700.^[2] Of places that ban alcohol it is from 1870, though a dry feast, one without liquor, is from the late 15th century,^[2] and a dry as a prohibitionist is American political slang by 1888.^[2] Dry goods (1650s) were sold by dry rather than liquid measure.^[2] Dry up, “stop talking”, is from 1853, and dry out of an addict from 1967.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 888 – a quality of the elements.^[6]
• c. 1000 – free from moisture.^[6]
• 1130 – in the place name Driebi.^[5]
• c. 1200 – showing no emotion.^[2]
• early 15th century – of humour.^[2]
• 1620s – tedious.^[2]
• 1700 – of wine, not sweet.^[2]
• 1870 – banning alcohol.^[2]
• 1967 – dry out.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Free from liquid or moisture.
2. Having little or no rain: a dry climate.
3. Thirsty.
4. Of wine, not sweet.
5. Banning the sale of alcohol.
6. Dull and uninteresting.
7. Of humour, shrewd and ironic, said with a straight face.

Verb

1. To remove moisture from; to make or become dry.
2. To preserve food by removing its moisture.

Word family

• dryly
• dryness
• dryish
• dryable
• drier
• dryer
• freeze-drying
• nondrying

Related words

• drought
• drug

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press