Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid. · To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid. · To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed. · To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "drownen"
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"expansion": "Middle English drownen"
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{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.",
"To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.",
"To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.",
"To inundate, submerge, overwhelm."
],
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