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drought - 6 dictionary results
drought
[drout] 
–noun
| 1. | a period of dry weather, esp. a long one that is injurious to crops. |
| 2. | an extended shortage: a drought of good writing. |
| 3. | Archaic. thirst. |
Also, drouth [drouth] .
[drouth] . Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE drūgath, equiv. to drūg- (base of drȳge dry ) + -ath -th 1 ; c. D droogte dryness
bef. 1000; ME; OE drūgath, equiv. to drūg- (base of drȳge dry ) + -ath -th 1 ; c. D droogte dryness
Synonyms:
2. scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.
2. scarcity, lack, want, dearth, paucity, famine.
Pronunciation note:
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced [drout] and [drouth] respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th 1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth—drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high.
In American English, drought with the pronunciation [drout] is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Drought and drouth, nouns derived from the adjective dry plus a suffix, are spellings that represent two phonetic developments of the same Old English word, and are pronounced
[drout] and [drouth] respectively. The latter pronunciation, therefore, is not a mispronunciation of drought. The now unproductive suffix -th 1 and its alternate form -t were formerly used to derive nouns from adjectives or verbs, resulting in such pairs as drouth—drought from dry and highth—height (the former now obsolete) from high. In American English, drought with the pronunciation
[drout] is common everywhere in educated speech, and is the usual printed form.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To drought
| drought (drout) n.
[Middle English, from Old English drūgoth; akin to drȳge, dry.] drought'y adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Drought
Drought\, n. [OE. droght, drougth, dru??, AS. druga?, from drugian to dry. See Dry, and cf. Drouth, which shows the original final sound.]1. Dryness; want of rain or of water; especially, such dryness of the weather as affects the earth, and prevents the growth of plants; aridity. The drought of March hath pierced to the root. --Chaucer. In a drought the thirsty creatures cry. --Dryden. 2. Thirst; want of drink. --Johnson. 3. Scarcity; lack. A drought of Christian writers caused a dearth of all history. --Fuller.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : drought
Spanish:
sequía,
German:
die Dürre,
Japanese:
干ばつ
drought
O.E. drugað, from P.Gmc. *drugothaz; related to drugian "dry up, whither" + -ith Gmc. suffix for forming abstract n. from adj. Drouth was a M.E. variant continued in Scot. and northern Eng. dialect.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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| drought (drout) Pronunciation Key
A long period of abnormally low rainfall, lasting up to several years. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Drought
From the middle of May to about the middle of August the land of Palestine is dry. It is then the "drought of summer" (Gen. 31:40; Ps. 32:4), and the land suffers (Deut. 28:23: Ps. 102:4), vegetation being preserved only by the dews (Hag. 1:11). (See DEW.)
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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