dust
/dʌst/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.41 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator."
- "Astronomers have previously considered that dust produced by the star was obscuring it, causing the steep decline in brightness."
- "to touch a dust of England’s ground"
- "[…]once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn’t it?"
- "But I should turn mine ears and hear The moanings of the homeless sea, The sound of streams that swift or slow Draw down Æonian hills, and sow The dust of continents to be; […]"
- "For now shall I sleep in the dust."
Etymology
From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰewh₂-, dust, dūst, *dustą, -