dirt English · revision 6243

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=non drit}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɜːt/, /dɝt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English dird, dyrt, by metathesis of earlier drit, drytt, mud, dung,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|non|drit|t=excrement]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021) related to [[m|non|drita|t=to defecate]] and Old English [[m|ang|drītan]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*drītaną]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Word Origins compares the change from brid to [[bird]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Excrement, and unclean matter: before 1300 in the OED, as drit;^(OED 1989) the form dyrt is from 1434 in Barnhart, of something worthless.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Mud or loose earth is from about 1300 as drit;^(Etymonline) the OED dates soil, earth, from 1698.^(OED 1989) It has been used abusively of persons from about 1300,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and figuratively of anything worthless, like ''filthy lucre'', from 1357.^(OED 1989) Scandalous gossip is first attested in 1926, in Hemingway.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Pay dirt'', earth containing gold, is California miners' slang by 1857,^(Etymonline) the American ''dirt road'' is by 1835,^(Etymonline) ''dirt-cheap'' is by 1766 and ''dirt-poor'' by 1906.^(Etymonline) [[dirty|alt=Dirty]] is from before 1398 as dritty,^(Barnhart 1988) and its sense ''obscene'' from the 16th century.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – excrement; filth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1357 – something worthless.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1434 – the form dyrt.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1698 – soil, earth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1766 – dirt-cheap.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1926 – gossip.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Dust, mud or another substance that makes things dirty; [[filth]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Loose earth or soil.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Scandalous or damaging information; [[gossip]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something worthless or contemptible.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dirtbag]]

+ * [[dirty]]

+ * [[dirt-cheap]]

+ * [[dirt-poor]]

+ * [[dirt bike]]

+ * [[dirt road]]

+ * [[pay dirt]]

+ * [[dirt farmer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}