Added 10 October 2026
dross
/dɹɒs/ noun
In Latin: spodium Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dross at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
- To remove dross from.
Origin
From Middle English drosse, dros, from Old English drōs, from Proto-Germanic *drōhs (“dregs, sediment”). Also compare Old English drōsna, drōsne (“a ground, sediment, lees, dregs, dirt, ear wax”), from Proto-Germanic *drōhsnǭ, *drōhsnō (“dregs, sediment”), derived from *drōhs. Alternatively, this may be from *dragjō + *-snō (“yeast, sediment”; compare *dragjō (“yeast”)), as if from *drēcg + -sn. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“sediment, yeast”). Cognate with Scots dros, drose, drosse (“small particles, fragments, dross”), Middle Dutch droes (“dregs”), Dutch droesem (“dregs”), German Drusen (“lees, dregs”), Latin fracēs (“grounds or dregs of oil”). Related also to drast, dregs.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)