dust English · revision 5378

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=gem-pro *dunstaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʌst/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|dust]], [[inh|ang|dūst]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*dunstaz]], the source also of German Dunst “mist, vapour”, Old High German tunst “storm, breath” and Dutch duist “chaff, meal dust”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) probably from [[ine-pro|*dheu-|t=dust, smoke, vapour]].^(Etymonline) Its original sense seems to have been “that which rises in a cloud”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fine dry particles of earth or other matter: about 825 in the OED, about 725 in the poem Christ according to Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old English it was the substance to which the human body decays, and figuratively mortal life.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Biblical phrases such as ''shake the dust off one's feet'' became part of the language.^(Cresswell 2021) A cloud of dust in the air is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) and figurative confusion or disturbance from the 1560s, as in ''kick up a dust'' (1753).^(Etymonline) The verb, to rise as dust, is from before 1200,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) to rid of dust from the 1560s and to sprinkle with dust from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) ''Duster'' is from 1576,^(Barnhart 1988) the ''dust jacket'' from 1927–28,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the ''Dust Bowl'' from 1936.^(Barnhart 1988) In American slang to dust, to kill, is from 1938.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – fine particles.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to rise as dust.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – to remove dust.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1753 – ''kick up a dust''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – ''dust jacket''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1936 – ''Dust Bowl''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Fine dry powder made of particles of earth, dirt or other matter.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A cloud of such particles.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' The earth, or the remains of a dead body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To remove dust from furniture or other things.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To sprinkle with a fine powder, such as sugar or flour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dustless]]

+ * [[dustlike]]

+ * [[duster]]

+ * [[redust]]

+ * [[undusted]]

+ * [[dust bunny]]

+ * [[dust off]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crop-dust]]

+ * [[dusty]]

+ * [[sawdust]]

+ * [[stardust]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}