Added 3 October 2026
drown
/dɹaʊn/ verb
In Latin: mergor, summergor Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about drown at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.
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To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
The car thief fought with an officer and tried to drown a police dog before being shot while escaping.
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To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
We are drowning in information but starving for wisdom.
Origin
From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable", unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse *drunkna.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)