dust

dust
\ \ [OE] The notion ultimately underlying dust seems to be that of ‘smoke’ or ‘vapour’. It goes back to a prehistoric Indo-European base *dheu-, which also produced Latin fūmus and Sanskrit dhūma- ‘smoke’. A Germanic descendant of this, *dunstu-, picks up the idea of a cloud of fine particles being blown about like smoke, and is the basis of Norwegian dustdust’ and duftfinely ground grain’, German duftfragrance’ (from an earlier Middle High German tuftvapour, dew’), and English dust.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Dust — (d[u^]st), n. [AS. dust; cf. LG. dust, D. duist meal dust, OD. doest, donst, and G. dunst vapor, OHG. tunist, dunist, a blowing, wind, Icel. dust dust, Dan. dyst mill dust; perh. akin to L. fumus smoke, E. fume. [root]71.] 1. Fine, dry particles… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dust — [dust] n. [ME < OE, akin to MLowG: for IE base see DUN1] 1. powdery earth or other matter in bits fine enough to be easily suspended in air 2. a cloud of such matter 3. confusion; turmoil 4. a) earth, esp. as the place of burial …   English World dictionary

  • dust — ► NOUN 1) fine, dry powder consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter. 2) any material in the form of tiny particles: coal dust. 3) an act of dusting. ► VERB 1) remove dust from the surface of. 2) cover lightly with a powdered… …   English terms dictionary

  • dust|y — «DUHS tee», adjective, dust|i|er, dust|i|est. 1. covered with dust; filled with dust: »He found some dusty old books in the attic. 2. like dust; dry and powdery: »dusty ch …   Useful english dictionary

  • Dust — (d[u^]st), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dusted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dusting}.] 1. To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from; as, to dust a table or a floor. [1913 Webster] 2. To sprinkle with dust. [1913 Webster] 3. To reduce to a fine… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dust — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Dust Álbum de Screaming Trees Publicación 1996 Grabación 1996 …   Wikipedia Español

  • dust|er — «DUHS tuhr», noun. 1. a person or thing that dusts. 2. a cloth, brush, or the like, used to get dust off things. 3. an apparatus for sifting or blowing dry poisons on plants to kill insects. 4. a contrivance for removing dust by sifting; sieve. 5 …   Useful english dictionary

  • dust-up — dust ups N COUNT A dust up is a quarrel that often involves some fighting. [INFORMAL] He s now facing suspension after a dust up with the referee. Syn: scrap …   English dictionary

  • dust — [n] tiny particles in the air ashes, cinders, dirt, dust bunnies*, earth, filth, flakes, fragments, gilings, granules, grime, grit, ground, lint, loess, powder, refuse, sand, smut, soil, soot; concept 437 dust [v] sprinkle tiny particles… …   New thesaurus

  • dust-up — [dust′up΄] n. Slang a commotion, quarrel, or fight * * * …   Universalium

  • dust — is used as a simile for annihilation (2 Kgs. 13:7). In the NT dust on the head was a sign of repentance (Rev. 18:19) but when shaken off the feet it was either a warning of judgement [[➝ Judgement]] to come (perhaps Matt. 10:14) or a gesture of… …   Dictionary of the Bible

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