"loud noise of some duration, a resonant sound long continued," Old English dyne (n.), related to dynian (v.), from Proto-Germanic *duniz (source also of Old Norse dynr, Danish don, Middle Low German don "noise"), from PIE root *dwen- "to make noise" (source also of Sanskrit dhuni "roaring, a torrent").
"to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, also as a noun, "agent employed to collect debts," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Middle English dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din" (c. 1200, dialectal variant of din), or shortened from dunkirk (c. 1600) "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, the French port from which they sailed. The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters. Related: Dunned; dunning. As a noun from 1620s.
c. 1200, "sound of a musical instrument;" mid-13c., "loud speech, outcry, clamor, shouting;" c. 1300, "a sound of any kind from any source," especially a loud and disagreeable sound, from Old French noise "din, disturbance, uproar, brawl" (11c., in modern French only in phrase chercher noise "to pick a quarrel"), also "rumor, report, news," a word of uncertain origin, replacing Replaced native gedyn (see din).
According to some, it is from Latin nausea "disgust, annoyance, discomfort," literally "seasickness" (see nausea). According to others, it is from Latin noxia "hurting, injury, damage." OED considers that "the sense of the word is against both suggestions," but nausea could have developed a sense in Vulgar Latin of "unpleasant situation, noise, quarrel" (compare Old Provençal nauza "noise, quarrel"). Confusion with annoy, noisome, and other similar words seems to have occurred.
From c. 1300 as "a disturbance; report, rumor, scandal." In Middle English sometimes also "a pleasant sound." In 16c.-17c. "a band or company of musicians." Noises off, as a stage instruction in theater, "sound effects, usually loud and confused, made off stage but to be heard by the audience as part of the play," is by 1908.
the Australian dog, of wolf-like appearance and very fierce, 1789, Native Australian name, from Dharruk (language formerly spoken in the area of Sydney) /din-go/ "tame dog," though the English used it to describe wild Australian dogs. Bushmen continue to call the animal by the Dharruk term /warrigal/ "wild dog." Plural dingoes.
c. 1300, "first big meal of the day" (eaten between 9 a.m. and noon), from Old French disner "breakfast" (11c.), noun use of infinitive disner (Modern French dîner) "take the first meal of the day," from Gallo-Roman *desiunare "to break one's fast," from Vulgar Latin *disieiunare, from dis- "undo, do the opposite of" (see dis-) + Late Latin ieiunare, jejunare "to fast," from Latin ieiunus "fasting, hungry, not partaking of food" (see jejune).
Always used in English for the main meal of the day, but the time of that has gradually grown later.
In medieval and modern Europe the common practice, down to the middle of the eighteenth century, was to take this meal about midday, or in more primitive times even as early as 9 or 10 A.M. In France, under the old régime, the dinner-hour was at 2 or 3 in the afternoon; but when the Constituent Assembly moved to Paris, since it sat until 4 or 5 o'clock, the hour for dining was postponed. The custom of dining at 6 o'clock or later has since become common, except in the country, where early dinner is still the general practice. [Century Dictionary, 1897]
The change from midday to evening began with the fashionable classes. Compare dinette.
Dinner-time is attested from late 14c.; dinner-hour is from 1750. Dinner-table is from 1784; dinner-jacket from 1852; dinner-party by 1780. Childish reduplication din-din is attested from 1905.
Sultan of Egypt and Syria from 1174-93, target of the Third Crusade (1189-1192); in full Salah-ad-din Yusuf ibn-Ayyub (1137-1193).
"pale grayish-green color," 1768, from French Céladon, name of a character in the once-popular romance of "l'Astrée" by Honoré d'Urfé (1610); an insipidly sentimental lover who wore bright green clothes, he is named in turn after Celadon (Greek Keladon), a character in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," whose name is said to mean "sounding with din or clamor." The mineral celadonite (1868) is so called for its color.
mid-13c., from Old English þunor "thunder, thunderclap; the god Thor," from Proto-Germanic *thunraz (source also of Old Norse þorr, Old Frisian thuner, Middle Dutch donre, Dutch donder, Old High German donar, German Donner "thunder"), from PIE *(s)tene- "to resound, thunder" (source also of Sanskrit tanayitnuh "thundering," Persian tundar "thunder," Latin tonare "to thunder"). Swedish tordön is literally "Thor's din." The unetymological -d- also is found in Dutch and Icelandic versions of the word (compare sound (n.1)). Thunder-stick, imagined word used by primitive peoples for "gun," attested from 1904.
