different between drab vs vapid
drab
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /d?æb/
- Rhymes: -æb
Etymology 1
Probably from Middle French and Old French drap (“cloth”), either:
- from Late Latin drappus (“drabcloth, kerchief; piece of cloth”), most likely from Gaulish *drappo, from Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to scratch, tear”); or
- from Frankish *drapi, *dr?pi (“that which is fulled, drabcloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drap-, *dr?p- (“something beaten”), from *drepan? (“to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?reb?- (“to beat, crush; to make or become thick”).
The English word is cognate with Ancient Greek ????? (drép?, “to pluck”), Avestan ????????????????????????? (drafša, “banner, flag”), Lithuanian drãpanos (“household linens”), Old Norse trefja (“to rub, wear out”), trof (“fringes”), Sanskrit ?????? (dr?pi, “mantle, gown”), Serbo-Croatian drápati (“to scratch, scrape”)).
Noun
drab (countable and uncountable, plural drabs) (also attributively)
- A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour.
- Synonym: drabcloth
- The colour of this fabric.
- Often in the plural form drabs: apparel, especially trousers, made from this fabric.
- (by extension) A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable.
Translations
See also
- Appendix:Colors
Adjective
drab (comparative drabber, superlative drabbest)
- Of the colour of some types of drabcloth: dull brownish yellow or dun.
- (by extension) Particularly of colour: dull, uninteresting.
Derived terms
- drably
- drabness
Translations
Etymology 2
The origin of the noun is uncertain; compare Middle English drabelen, drablen, draplen (“to soil; make dirty; to drag on the ground or through mud”), and Low German drabbe (“dirt, mud”), drabbeln (“to soil”), and Old Norse drabba (“to make drab; make dirty”), the latter three ultimately from Proto-Germanic *drepan? (“to hit, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?reb- (“to crush, grind; to kill”). The word is also likely to be related to Dutch drab (“dregs, sediment”), Irish drabog, Scottish Gaelic drabag (“dirty woman; slattern”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Noun
drab (plural drabs)
- (dated) A dirty or untidy woman; a slattern.
- (dated) A promiscuous woman, a slut; a prostitute.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:promiscuous woman, Thesaurus:prostitute
Translations
Verb
drab (third-person singular simple present drabs, present participle drabbing, simple past and past participle drabbed)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To consort with prostitutes; to whore.
Derived terms
- drabber
- drabbing (noun)
Etymology 3
Probably related to drop (“small mass of liquid”).
Noun
drab (plural drabs)
- A small amount, especially of money.
Derived terms
- dribs and drabs
Etymology 4
Origin unknown.
Noun
drab (plural drabs)
- A box used in a saltworks for holding the salt when taken out of the boiling pans.
Translations
Etymology 5
Alteration of drag, possibly via the folk-etymological backronym "DRessed As a Girl" (with boy replacing girl).
Noun
drab (uncountable)
- (LGBT, slang) An instance of a transgender or non-binary person presenting as the gender corresponding to their sex assigned at birth instead of that corresponding to their internal gender identity (for instance, a trans woman dressed as a man).
Usage notes
In this sense, drab usually (though not always) refers to a trans woman presenting as a man.
References
Further reading
- drab (color) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- drab (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- Bard, Brad, bard, brad, darb
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse dráp (“killing”), from Old Norse drepa (“to hit; to kill”), from Proto-Germanic *drepan?, from Proto-Indo-European *dhrebh-. Compare Icelandic dráp, Swedish dråp
Pronunciation
Noun
drab n (singular definite drabet, plural indefinite drab)
- (crime) homicide
Declension
Related terms
- mord
- manddrab
References
- “drab” in Den Danske Ordbog
- “drab” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog
Dutch
Etymology
Uncertain, but probably related to Dutch draf (“dregs”) (from Proto-Germanic *drabaz). Compare Low German drabbe (“silt”).
First attested as Dutch drabbe (“sediment”) in 1599.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dr?p/
- Hyphenation: drab
- Rhymes: -?p
Noun
drab f or n (uncountable, diminutive drabje n)
- sediment, dregs
- goop, filth, mucus
Old Polish
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *drab?.
Noun
drab f
- ladder
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from Czech dráb.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /drap/
Noun
drab m pers
- (colloquial, derogatory) large, imposing man
Declension
Romani
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
drab m
- medicine
Descendants
- ? Russian: ???? (drap, “marijuana”)
drab From the web:
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vapid
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vapidus (“flat, vapid”).
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /?væp.?d/, /?ve?p.?d/
Adjective
vapid (comparative more vapid, superlative most vapid)
- Offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging.
- Lifeless, dull, or banal.
- 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 30 ?ISBN
- Then there was a little more trite conversation between Mr. Arabin and Mr. Harding; trite, and hard, and vapid, and senseless.
- 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 30 ?ISBN
- Tasteless, bland, or insipid.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:boring, Thesaurus:wearisome, Thesaurus:soporific
Derived terms
- vapidity
- vapidly
- vapidness
Translations
Anagrams
- pavid
Estonian
Noun
vapid
- nominative plural of vapp
vapid From the web:
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