dump

Dump, to drop or throw down, is probably of Scandinavian origin, while the dumps, low spirits, is probably from Dutch.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʌmp/^[4]

dump¹ throw down

Etymology

It is Middle English dompen, perhaps from a Scandinavian source, compare Danish dumpe (“to fall hard”), Norwegian dumpa, to fall suddenly, and Swedish dimpa,^[5][1][2] though an independent imitative origin is possible.^[2] MWU suggests Dutch dompen, to immerse, topple.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To throw down or fall with force: about 1333–52 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

To unload in a mass, as by tilting a cart, is first recorded in American English in 1784,^[1][5] and the noun, a place where refuse is dumped, also in 1784 in Barnhart, 1865 in Etymonline and the OED, first of mining operations.^[1][5][6] In economics, to sell goods abroad in quantity at low prices is by 1868.^[5] A dumping ground is from 1842.^[5] Domestic rubbish tips are dumps by 1872,^[5] any shabby place from 1899,^[5][1] and a military store of ammunition from 1915.^[5] To discard or abandon is from 1919.^[5] In computing, a dump of stored data is a later sense,^[7] and the slang take a dump, defecate, is from 1942.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1333 – to throw down.^[1]
• 1784 – to unload; a refuse heap (US).^[1]
• 1868 – to sell cheaply abroad.^[5]
• 1899 – a shabby place.^[5]
• 1915 – a military dump.^[5]
• 1919 – to discard.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To drop or throw down heavily or in a mass.
2. To empty out of a container or vehicle by tipping it.
3. (informal) To get rid of; to abandon a person or thing.
4. To sell goods abroad in large quantities at very low prices.

Noun

1. A place where rubbish is dumped.
2. A store of military supplies; a depot.
3. (informal) A shabby or unpleasant place.
4. (computing) A copy of stored data transferred out, as for checking.

Word family

• dumper
• dumping
• dumpster

dump² low spirits

Etymology

It is probably of Low German or Dutch origin, a figurative use of Middle Dutch domp, exhalation, haze, mist (Dutch domp), related to damp.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fit of musing, a reverie or daze: 1523.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A fit of melancholy is from 1529, now only in the plural, in the dumps, colloquial and humorous.^[6][2] A mournful tune, or a tune in general, is a 16th-century sense, now obsolete.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1523 – a reverie.^[6]
• 1529 – melancholy.^[6]
• before 1553 – a mournful tune.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (the dumps) A gloomy, depressed state: down in the dumps.

Related words

• dip
• dumpy
• dumpling
• damp

Usage notes

Two minor words are dump, a dumpy object, perhaps a back-formation from dumpling (1770–90),^[3][6] and Scots and Yorkshire dump, a deep hole or pool in a river (1788).^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ 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)