drowse
/ˈdɹaʊ̯z/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.34 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Followed by away: to pass (time) drowsily or in sleeping; also, to proceed (on a way) drowsily or sleepily.
Transitive verb
noun
A state of dullness or inactivity, as if from sleepiness.
Example Sentences
- "Novv vvhen as vvine had drovvned and drouſed the underſtanding: vvhen the night ſeaſon, vvhen the entermingling of men and vvomen together one vvith another (and namely, they of young and tender yeeres, vvith thoſe of elder age) had cleane put out & extinguiſhed all reſpect and regard of ſhamefaſt honeſtie: there began firſt to be practiſed all ſorts of corruption, for every one had all pleaſures readie at commaundement, and his choiſe of thoſe vvhereto by nature he vvas more prone and given to luſt after."
- "But novv the Fume of his aboundant Drink, / Drouzing his Brain, beginneth to deface / The ſvveet remembrance of her lovely Face: […]"
- "A few people were there, loitering away Sunday in their best clothes. The warmth drowsed them and replaced contentment."
- "[T]he wary tadpole returned from exile, the bullfrog resumed his ancient song, the tranquil turtle sunned his back upon bank and log and drowsed his grateful life away as in the old sweet days of yore."
- "Why plague me who am pledged to home-delights? / I'm the engaged now: through whose fault but yours? / On duty. As you well know. Don't I drowse / The week away down with the Aunt and Niece? / No help: it's leisure, loneliness and love."
- "[William] Congreve held fast to the Greek poets, but otherwise seems to have drowsed his way through Trinity studies."
Etymology
The verb is either: * a back-formation from drowsy, which is attested earlier; or * possibly from Middle English *drousen (no known attestations), from Old English drūsan, drūsian (“to droop, sink; to become feeble, inactive, low, or slow, drowse”), from Proto-Germanic *drūsijaną (“to look down; mourn”) (possibly merged with *dreusaną (“to fall”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewHs- (“to break off; to fall down”). The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Danish drøse (“to be negligent; to slow down”) * Dutch drozen (“to doze; muse”) * German trauern (“to mourn, be sad”) * Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (driusan, “to fall; to fall down”) * Norwegian døse (“to drowse”) * Old English drēosan (“to fall; to perish; to rush”) (whence Middle English dresen (“to fall down”)) * Swedish drösa (“to be slow”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰrewHs-, *drousen, drūsan, *drūsijaną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɹaʊ̯z/
- British English: /ˈdɹaʊ̯z/
Usage
Inflected Forms
drowses (present, singular)
drowsing (participle, present)
drowsed (participle, past)
drowsed (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
drowsed (first person, past)
drowsest (archaic, present)
drowsed (past, second person)
drowsedst (archaic, past)
drowseth (archaic, present)
drowsed (past, singular)