drought English · revision 14972

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1100|origins=ine-pro *dhreugh-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /draʊt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|drougth]], [[inh|ang|drūgaþ|t=dryness]], also [[m|ang|drūgoþ]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|ang|drūgian|t=to dry up, wither]], from the base of [[m|ang|drȳge|t=dry]] (see [[dry]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*drugothaz]] in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*dhreugh-]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is formed like [[height]] from high, and compares with [[nl|droogte]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Dryness: before 1100.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dryness of the weather, lack of rain, the current sense, is from about 1200.^(OED 1989) Middle English drught (before 1325) and drowghte (about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius) are recorded.^(Barnhart 1988) Thirst is an archaic and dialect sense from 1393.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) Drouth, a variant, continued in Scots, northern English dialect and poetry.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) A prolonged shortage of anything is a drought too.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1100 – dryness.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – lack of rain.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – drowghte.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1393 – thirst.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long period of abnormally low rainfall.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A prolonged shortage of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic, dialect)'' Thirst.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[droughty]]

+ * [[droughtiness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dry]]

+ * [[drouth]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Scots and archaic form is drouth.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}