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URL: https://www.etymonline.com/word/dry

⇱ Dry - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

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Origin and history of dry

dry(adj.)

Middle English drie "without moisture, comparatively free from water or fluid," from Old English dryge, from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (source also of Middle Low German dröge, Middle Dutch druge, Dutch droog, Old High German trucchon, German trocken, Old Norse draugr), from Germanic root *dreug- "dry."

Meaning "barren" is mid-14c. Of persons, "showing no emotion," c. 1200; of humor or jests, "without show of pleasantry, caustic, sarcastic" early 15c. (implied in dryly). Sense of "uninteresting, tedious" is from 1620s. Of wines, brandy, etc., "free from sweetness or fruity flavor," 1700. Of places prohibiting alcoholic drink, 1870 (dry feast, one at which no liquor is served, is from late 15c.); colloquial dry (n.) "prohibitionist" is by 1888, American English political slang.

Dry goods (1650s) were those dispensed in dry, not liquid, measure. Dry land (that not under the sea) is from early 13c. Dry-nurse "nurse who attends and feeds a child but does not suckle it" is from 1590s. Dry run "rehearsal" is by 1941. Dry ice "solid carbon dioxide" is by 1925.

dry(v.)

Middle English drien, from Old English drygan, "make dry, free from water or moisture of any kind," also intransitive, "lose moisture," cognate with Dutch droogen, Low German drügen, from the source of dry (adj.). Related: Dried; drying. Of liquids, "to evaporate," early 14c. Meaning "to wipe (dishes, etc.) dry after washing up" is by 1935. Dry out in the drug addiction sense is from 1967. Dry up "stop talking" is by 1853.

Entries linking to dry

1971, of hair, "to dry and style with a blow-dryer;" see blow (v.1) + dry (adj.). Related: Blow-dried; blow-drying; blow-dryer.

Middle English dreinen, from Old English dreahnian "to draw off gradually, as a liquid; remove by degrees; strain out," from Proto-Germanic *dreug-, source of drought, dry, giving the English word originally a sense of "to make dry." Figurative meaning of "exhaust" is attested from 1650s. Intransitive sense of "to flow off gradually" is from 1580s. Related: Drained; draining.

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Old English drugaþ, drugoþ "continuous dry weather injurious to vegetation, dryness," from Proto-Germanic *drugothaz, from Germanic root *dreug- "dry" with *-itho, Germanic suffix for forming abstract nouns. See dry (adj.) + -th (2), and compare high/height, etc. Drouth was a Mid

Old English wæt "moist, rainy, liquid," also as a noun, "moisture; liquid drink," from Proto-Germanic *wed- (source also of Old Frisian wet). Also in part from cognate Old Norse vatr, and all ultimately from PIE root *wed- (1) "water; wet." Of paint, ink, etc., "not yet dry" from

Old English swete, Mercian swoete, "pleasing to the senses, mind or feelings; having a pleasant disposition," from Proto-Germanic *swotja- (source also of Old Saxon swoti, Old Frisian swet, Swedish söt, Danish sød, Middle Dutch soete, Dutch zoet, Old High German swuozi, German sü

promoting dryness," from Late Latin siccativus "drying, siccative," from Latin siccatus, past participle of siccare "to dry..., make dry; dry up," from siccus "dry, thirsty; without rain," from PIE root *seikw- "to flow out" (source also of Avestan...hiku- "dry," Greek iskhnos "dry, withered," Lithuanian seklus "shallow," Middle Irish sesc "dry," Sanskrit sincati "makes...dry")....

"photographic reduplication without liquid developers," 1948, from Greek xeros "dry" (see xerasia) + -ography as in photography...Xerography: Inkless printing and dry photography—named "xerography," from the Greek words for "dry" and "writing"—were recently...revolutionary" by the New York Times, xerography employs static electricity to record images on special metal plates, and dry...

Middle English seren, from Old English searian (intransitive), of plants, "dry up, to wither, become shriveled" (a sense...dry"), from root of sear "dried up, withered" (see sere)....The transitive meaning "cause to wither, make dry" is from early 15c....The cookery sense of "dry or wither (meat, etc.) by application of heat, scorch the surface of" is recent....

-14c., sorel, (mid-12c. as a surname), from Old French sorel, from sor "yellowish-brown," probably from Frankish *saur "dry...," or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *sauza- (source also of Middle Dutch soor "dry," Old High German soren..."to become dry," Old English sear "withered, barren;" see sere)....

c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),

late 14c., modifien, "alter, amend, adjust, change the properties, form, or function of;" also "set limits, keep within the bounds of reason; choose a middle course," from Old French modifier (14c.), from Latin modificare "to limit, measure off, restrain," from modus "measure, ma

1570s, transitive, "to dry, deprive of moisture," from Latin desiccatus, past participle of desiccare "to make very dry," from de- "thoroughly" (see de-) + siccare "to dry" (see siccative). Intransitive sense of "become dry" is from 1670s. The Middle English translation of Chauli

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