Old English drægnet, a net to drag the bottom of a body of water in fishing; see drag (v.) + net (n.). Figurative use is from 1640s; police sense attested by 1894.
early 14c., from Old French drugemen, from late Greek dragoumanos, from Arabic targuman "interpreter," from targama "interpret." Treated in English as a compound, with plural -men.
early 13c., from Old French dragon, from Latin draconem (nominative draco) "huge serpent, dragon," from Greek drakon (genitive drakontos) "serpent, giant seafish," apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai "to see clearly," from PIE *derk- "to see." Perhaps the literal sense is "the one with the (deadly) glance."
The young are dragonets (14c.). Obsolete drake "dragon" is an older borrowing of the same word. Used in the Bible to translate Hebrew tannin "a great sea-monster," and tan, a desert mammal now believed to be the jackal.
1680s, literally "to force by the agency of dragoons" (which were used by the French kings to persecute Protestants), from dragoon (n.). Related: Dragooned; dragooning.
Old English dreahnian "to drain, strain out," from Proto-Germanic *dreug-, source of drought, dry, giving the English word originally a sense of "make dry." Figurative meaning of "exhaust" is attested from 1650s. The word is not found in surviving texts between late Old English and the 1500s. Related: Drained; draining.
"male duck," c.1300, unrecorded in Old English but may have existed then, from West Germanic *drako (cf. Low German drake, second element of Old High German anutrehho, dialectal German Drache).
archaic for "dragon," from Old English draca "dragon, sea monster, huge serpent," from Proto-Germanic *drako (cf. Middle Dutch and Old Frisian drake, Dutch draak, Old High German trahho, German drache), an early borrowing from Latin draco (see dragon).
mid-15c., "small weight of apothecary's measure," a phonetic spelling, from Anglo-Latin dragma, Old French drame, from Late Latin dragma, from Latin drachma "drachma," from Greek drakhma "measure of weight," also, "silver coin," literally "handful" (of six obols, the least valuable coins in ancient Athens), akin to drassesthai "to grasp." The fluid dram is one-eighth of a fluid ounce, hence "a small drink of liquor" (1713); Hence dram shop (1725), where liquor was sold by the shot.
1510s, from Late Latin drama "play, drama," from Greek drama (genitive dramatos) "play, action, deed," from dran "to do, act, perform" (especially some great deed, whether good or bad), from PIE *dere- "to work." Drama queen attested by 1992.
1580s, from Late Latin dramaticus, from Greek dramatikos "pertaining to plays," from drama (genitive dramatos; see drama). Meaning "full of action and striking display, fit for a drama" is from 1725. Dramatic irony is recorded from 1907. Related: Dramatical; dramatically.
"composition and production of plays," 1801, from French dramaturgie, from Greek dramatourgia, from drama (genitive dramatos) + ergos "worker" (see urge (v.)).
c.1400, "to ornament with cloth hangings;" mid-15c., "to weave into cloth," from Old French draper "to weave, make cloth" (13c.), from drap "cloth, piece of cloth, sheet, bandage," from Late Latin drapus, perhaps of Gaulish origin (cf. Old Irish drapih "mantle, garment"). Meaning "to cover with drapery" is from 1847. Meaning "to cause to hang or stretch out loosely or carelessly" is from 1943. Related: Draped; draping.
mid-14c. (mid-12c. as a surname), "one who weaves and/or sells cloth," from Anglo-French draper, Old French drapier (13c.) "draper, clothes-seller, clothes-maker," agent noun from drap (see drape (v.)).
early 14c., "cloth, textiles," from Old French draperie (12c.) "weaving, cloth-making, clothes shop," from drap (see drape (n.)). From late 14c. as "place where cloth is made; cloth market." Meaning "stuff with which something is draped" is 1680s.
1690s, originally medical, "forceful, vigorous, especially in effect on bowels," from Greek drastikos "effective, efficacious; active, violent," from drasteon "(thing) to be done," from dran "to do, act, perform." Sense of "extreme, severe" is first recorded 1808. Related: Drastically.
c.1200, from Old English *dreaht, *dræht, related to dragan "to draw, drag" (see drag). Oldest sense besides that of "pulling" is of "drinking." It retains the functions that did not branch off with draft (q.v.).
British name for the tabletop game that in U.S. is checkers, c.1400, from draught, perhaps because the pieces are "dragged" over the board in moves. Earlier it is recorded as jeu de dames (late 14c.).
c.1200, spelling alteration of Old English dragan "to drag, to draw, protract" (class VI strong verb; past tense drog, past participle dragen), from Proto-Germanic *draganan "carry" (cf. Old Norse draga "to draw," Old Saxon dragan, Old Frisian draga, Middle Dutch draghen, Old High German tragen, German tragen "to carry, bear"), from PIE root *dhragh- (see drag (v.)).
Sense of "make a line or figure" (by "drawing" a pencil across paper) is c.1200. Meaning "pull out a weapon" is c.1200. To draw a criminal (drag him from a horse to place of execution) is from early 14c. To draw a blank "come up with nothing" (1825) is an image from lotteries. As a noun, from 1660s; colloquial sense of "anything that can draw a crowd" is from 1881 (the verb in this sense is 1580s).
game or contest that ends without a winner, attested first in drawn match (1610s), of uncertain origin; some speculate it is from withdraw. Draw-game is from 1825. As a verb, "to leave undecided," from 1837.
c.1300, "a pulling," in various senses, verbal noun from draw (v.). The "picture-making" sense is from 1520s; of the picture itself from 1660s. Drawing board is from 1725; used in figurative expression from mid-20c.
1590s, perhaps from Middle Dutch dralen, East Frisian draulen "to linger, delay," apparently an intensive of the root of draw (v.). Or else a native formation along the same lines. Related: Drawled; drawling. As a noun from 1760.
mid-14c., Middle English noun derivative of Old English dragan "to draw," originally meaning a cart without wheels that has to be "dragged" (cf. Old Norse draga "timber dragged behind a horse"); see drag (v.).