Etymologically
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dry

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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

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