dump English · revision 7961

+ Dump, to drop or throw down, is probably of Scandinavian origin, while the dumps, low spirits, is probably from Dutch.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʌmp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|throw down}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1333}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English dompen, perhaps from a Scandinavian source, compare Danish [[m|da|dumpe|t=to fall hard]], Norwegian dumpa, to fall suddenly, and Swedish dimpa,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) though an independent imitative origin is possible.^(Hoad 1986) MWU suggests Dutch dompen, to immerse, topple.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To throw down or fall with force: about 1333–52 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To unload in a mass, as by tilting a cart, is first recorded in American English in 1784,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the noun, a place where refuse is dumped, also in 1784 in Barnhart, 1865 in Etymonline and the OED, first of mining operations.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In economics, to sell goods abroad in quantity at low prices is by 1868.^(Etymonline) A ''dumping ground'' is from 1842.^(Etymonline) Domestic rubbish tips are dumps by 1872,^(Etymonline) any shabby place from 1899,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and a military store of ammunition from 1915.^(Etymonline) To discard or abandon is from 1919.^(Etymonline) In computing, a dump of stored data is a later sense,^(AHD) and the slang ''take a dump'', defecate, is from 1942.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1333 – to throw down.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1784 – to unload; a refuse heap (US).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1868 – to sell cheaply abroad.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1899 – a shabby place.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1915 – a military dump.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1919 – to discard.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To drop or throw down heavily or in a mass.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To empty out of a container or vehicle by tipping it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To get rid of; to abandon a person or thing.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To sell goods abroad in large quantities at very low prices.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place where [[rubbish]] is dumped.^(AHD)

+ # A store of military supplies; a depot.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' A shabby or unpleasant place.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(computing)'' A copy of stored data transferred out, as for checking.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dumper]]

+ * [[dumping]]

+ * [[dumpster]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|low spirits}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1523}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably of Low German or Dutch origin, a figurative use of Middle Dutch domp, exhalation, haze, mist (Dutch domp), related to [[damp]].^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fit of musing, a reverie or daze: 1523.^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A fit of melancholy is from 1529, now only in the plural, ''in the dumps'', colloquial and humorous.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) A mournful tune, or a tune in general, is a 16th-century sense, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1523 – a reverie.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1529 – melancholy.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1553 – a mournful tune.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(the dumps)'' A gloomy, depressed state: ''down in the dumps''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dip]]

+ * [[dumpy]]

+ * [[dumpling]]

+ * [[damp]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two minor words are dump, a dumpy object, perhaps a back-formation from [[dumpling]] (1770–90),^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989) and Scots and Yorkshire dump, a deep hole or pool in a river (1788).^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}