drone English · revision 10595

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ang drān}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /drəʊn/, US /droʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|drān]], drǣn, male bee (about 1000, in Ælfric's Glossary),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*dran-]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) cognate with Old Saxon drān, Middle Low German drāne and Old High German treno (German Drohne is from Low German).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It is probably imitative,^(Etymonline) from a base meaning to boom or resound, seen in Dutch dreunen, German dröhnen and Old Norse drynja, to roar;^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(MWU 2024) Greek anthrḗnē, wild bee, has been compared.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The male of the honeybee, which does no work: about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A lazy idler who lives on others' work is from before 1529.^(OED 1989) The verb, to roar, is from the mid-14th century, and to make a monotonous humming sound from about 1500,^(Etymonline) and the noun for such a sound from 1500–20;^(OED 1989) a bagpipe drone is the pipe that sounds one continuous note.^(AHD) Speaking in a dull, monotonous tone is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) A pilotless aircraft or missile directed by remote control is from 1946,^(OED 1989) named after the bee.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a male bee.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – to roar.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1500 – to hum monotonously.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1529 – an idler.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – to speak monotonously.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1946 – a pilotless aircraft.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A male [[bee]], especially a honeybee, that does no work and whose only function is to mate with the [[queen]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who lives off the work of others; a [[loafer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A pilotless aircraft directed by [[remote control]].^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A continuous low humming sound.^(AHD)

+ # A [[bagpipe]] pipe that sounds a single sustained note.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a continuous low humming sound.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To speak in a dull, monotonous tone.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[droner]]

+ * [[droningly]]

+ * [[dronish]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bee]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}