drop

drop
\ \ [OE] Drop, droop, and drip are closely related. Droop [13] was borrowed from Old Norse drūpa, which came from a Germanic base *drūp-. A variant of this, *drup-, produced Middle Danish drippe, the probable source of English drip [15], and a further variant, *drop-, lies behind Old English dropa, ancestor of modern English drop. All three go back ultimately to a prehistoric Indo-European *dhreub-, source of Irish druchtdew’.
\ \ The English noun originally meant ‘globule of liquid’, and its related verb ‘fall in drops’. The main modern transitive sense, ‘allow to fall’, developed in the 14th century, giving English a single word for the concept of ‘letting fall’ not shared by, for example, French and German, which have to use phrases to express it: respectively, laisser tomber and fallen lassen.
\ \ Cf.DRIP, DROOP

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Drop — (dr[o^]p), n. [OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS. dropo, D. drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw. droppe; and Fr. AS. dre[ o]pan to drip, drop; akin to OS. driopan, D. druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel. drj[=u]pa. Cf. {Drip},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • drop — ► VERB (dropped, dropping) 1) fall or cause to fall. 2) sink to the ground. 3) make or become lower, weaker, or less. 4) abandon or discontinue. 5) (often drop off) set down or unload (a passenger or goods) …   English terms dictionary

  • drop — [dräp] n. [ME drope < OE dropa, akin to ON drūpa, DROOP, Ger triefen: for IE base see DRIP] 1. a small quantity of liquid that is somewhat spherical, as when falling 2. a very small quantity of liquid 3. [pl.] liquid medicine taken or applied… …   English World dictionary

  • Drop — Drop, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dropped}or {Dropt}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dropping}.] [OE. droppen, AS. dropan, v. i. See {Drop}, n.] 1. To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill. The trees drop balsam. Creech. [1913 Webster] The… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Drop — Drop, v. i. 1. To fall in drops. [1913 Webster] The kindly dew drops from the higher tree, And wets the little plants that lowly dwell. Spenser. [1913 Webster] 2. To fall, in general, literally or figuratively; as, ripe fruit drops from a tree;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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