draft English · revision 4227

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1200|origins=ang *dræht}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a spelling of [[draught]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) reflecting the change in its pronunciation, found from about 1500^(Etymonline) and in the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) Draught is [[inh|enm|draht]], draght,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) probably [[inh|ang|*dræht]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) related to Old English dragan “to draw”, the source of [[draw]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) with Old High German traht “a carrying”, Old Norse dráttr “a pulling” and Middle Dutch dracht, from Proto-Germanic *drahtiz.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) By the end of the 19th century draft was the established form in military, commercial and many technical senses, and it is now almost universal in American English.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As draught, the action of pulling, as of nets in fishing or fowling, and the act of drinking in one swallow: probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut.^(Barnhart 1988) The spelling draft is from 1552, possibly 1543, in the sense of a privy, according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A rough copy of a writing is from before 1382,^(Barnhart 1988) the 1520s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and a plan or sketch from 1579.^(Barnhart 1988) A current of air is from 1768–74,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1770 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A written order for payment, as a bank draft, is from 1745.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The drawing off of a group for special duty is from 1703, and in the United States especially of conscription into the military;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the verb in this sense is from 1714.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The sense of beer drawn from the cask is from the 1830s.^(Etymonline) In British English draught is kept for the current of air, the drink, the game of draughts and the depth of a ship, while draft is the preliminary version, the bank order and the conscription.^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – draught, a pulling.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a. 1382 – a rough copy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1552 – the spelling draft.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1579 – a plan, sketch.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1703 – a body drawn off for duty.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1714 – verb, to select.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1745 – a bank draft.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1768 – a current of air.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1830s – draft beer.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A preliminary version of a piece of writing or plan.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A current of air in an enclosed space.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A written order for payment of money, as from a bank.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Compulsory enlistment into the armed forces; [[conscription]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The depth of water a ship needs to float.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The act of drinking, or the amount swallowed at once.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To draw up a preliminary version or plan of.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To select for compulsory service, especially in the military.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To drive close behind another vehicle to use its slipstream.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Used for pulling loads: ''a draft horse''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Drawn from a cask or tap: ''draft beer''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[draftable]]

+ * [[draftee]]

+ * [[drafter]]

+ * [[antidraft]]

+ * [[draftsperson]]

+ * [[draftswoman]]

+ * [[drafty]]

+ * [[indraft]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[draw]]

+ * [[draught]]

+ * [[drag]]

+ * [[draftsman]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}