different between dray vs drab

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: dr?, IPA^(key): /d?e?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræ?e (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *drag?. Cognate with Middle Low German dr?ge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). More at draw.

Noun

dray (plural drays)

1. A low horse-drawn cart, often without sides, and used especially for heavy loads.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

2. A kind of sledge or sled.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Derived terms

• drayage, drayman

Translations

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Noun

dray (plural drays)

1. Alternative spelling of drey, the nest of a squirrel.

References

• dray at OneLook Dictionary Search
• dray in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Dyar, Rady, Yard, adry, yard

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)

1. A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour.

   Synonym: drabcloth
2. The colour of this fabric.
3. Often in the plural form drabs: apparel, especially trousers, made from this fabric.
4. (by extension) A dull or uninteresting appearance or situation, unremarkable.

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Adjective

drab (comparative drabber, superlative drabbest)

1. Of the colour of some types of drabcloth: dull brownish yellow or dun.
2. (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)

1. (dated) A dirty or untidy woman; a slattern.
2. (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)

1. (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)

1. A small amount, especially of money.

Derived terms

• dribs and drabs

Etymology 4

Origin unknown.

Noun

drab (plural drabs)

1. 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)

1. (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)

1. (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)

1. sediment, dregs
2. goop, filth, mucus

Old Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *drab?.

Noun

drab f

1. ladder

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Czech dráb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /drap/

Noun

drab m pers

1. (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

1. medicine

Descendants

• ? Russian: ???? (drap, “marijuana”)