drought, drouth
(draʊt, draʊθ, Sc. druːθ)
Forms: α. 1 dr{uacu}ᵹað, -oð, 3 (Orm.) druhhþe, 4 druȝþe, drouhþe, droȝþe, 5 droughþe, drouȝth, 6–8 drougth, 7–8 droughth; 4–7 drouthe, 5 drowþe, 5–8 drowth, (6 droutht), 4– drouth (now dial. or arch). β. 3–4 druȝt(e, 4 droȝt(e, drohut, 4–5 drouȝt(e, 4–6 droght(e, drught, 5 droughte, drowghte, drouht, drowte, 4– drought.
[OE. dr{uacu}ᵹað, -oð, f. dr{uacu}ᵹ- stem of dr{yacu}ᵹe dry, q.v. Cf. Du. droogte, f. droog dry. From an early period the final -th after ȝ varied with -t (cf. highth, height:—OE. h{iacu}ehþu), and this form is established in standard English, while drouth, drowth has continued in Sc. and northern dialects, and is often used by Eng. poets.]
1. a. The condition or quality of being dry; dryness, aridity, lack of moisture. arch.
| α a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 317/24 Siccitas, druᵹað, oððe hæð. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 17 It bryngiþ vnkindly drowþe to woundis. 1658 Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 91 The drouth of the ground. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 48 The Heat, Coldness, Drowth, Moisture..of Air. 1833 Tennyson Fatima 13, I look'd athwart the burning drouth Of that long desert to the south. a 1846 Landor Imag. Conv. Ser. i. xiii. Wks. 1846 I. 68 Grubs..which die, the moment they tumble out of the nutshell and its comfortable drouth. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 6365 Ne for na drught ne for na wat. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iii. (1495) 81 Droughte and moysture ben contrary. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 133/2 Drowte, siccitas. 1589 Cogan Haven Health clxi. (1636) 154 Old doves for their..drought and hardnesse of digestion, are to bee eschewed. 1643 Lightfoot Glean. Ex. (1648) 28 Called Horeb, from the rocky drought of it. 1727 W. Mather Yng. Man's Comp. 27 Drought, a driness. |
b. fig. (With
quot. 1652
cf. dry a. 15.)
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. I. 203 The great drought that we suffer in our soules. 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1738 I. 118 The sluce..that feeds the drowth of his Text. 1652 J. Hall Height Eloquence p. vi, All men naturally aim at high things, and ambitiously avoid the imputation of drought or weaknesse. 1872 G. Macdonald Wilf. Cumb. I. xxviii. 286, ‘I daresay’, returned Charley, with drought. |
2. spec. Dryness of the weather or climate; lack of rain. (The current sense.)
absolute drought,
partial drought (see
quot. 1963).
| α c 1200 Ormin 8625 Forr þatt te land wass driȝȝedd all And scorrcnedd þurrh þe druhhþe. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 524 Ne hete, ne no harde forst, vmbre ne droȝþe. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xviii. 108 In tyme of drouȝth. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings xvii. Contents of Ch., A greate drouth & derth in Elias tyme. 1673 Temple Obs. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 75 There happen'd..a mighty Drowth in the Beginning of the Summer. 1865 Swinburne Song in Time of Revol. 22 The tender dew after drouth. |
| β c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2348 So sal druȝte ðe feldes deren. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 2 Whan that Aprille with hise shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote. ? a 1500 Metr. Prov. in Rel. Ant. I. 323 After droght commyth rayne..after rayne, Commyth drought agayne. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cx, As in a drought the thirsty creatures cry And gape upon the gathered clouds for rain. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1446 Streams unfailing in the Summer's drought. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. v. (1884) 148 Subject to occasional and prolonged droughts. |
| 1881 G. J. Symons in British Rainfall 1880 112, (1) ‘Absolute Droughts’, or all periods of 14 or more consecutive days absolutely without rain; and (2) ‘Partial Droughts’, or all periods of 28 days or upwards in which the total fall was less than a quarter of an inch. 1899 Daily News 12 June 7/2 With all the dry weather we had last year there was not one case of an absolute drought in London. 1963 Meteorol. Gloss (Met. Office) (ed. 4) 83 An ‘absolute drought’ is a period of at least 15 consecutive days, to none of which is credited 0·01 in., or 0·2 mm, or more of rainfall. A ‘partial drought’ is a period of at least 29 consecutive days, the mean daily rainfall of which does not exceed 0·01 in., or 0·2 mm. |
| fig. 1620 Middleton Chaste Maid v. i, A drouth of virtue, And dearth of all repentance. 1640 Fuller Joseph's Coat Serm. i. (1867) 104 The drowth and scorching heat of persecution. 1877 L. Morris Epic Hades ii. 82 A secret spring of joy, Which mocked the droughts of Fate. |
† 3. Dry or parched land, desert.
Obs. rare.
| a 1000 Ps. Lamb. 189 a, 21 (Bosw.) Bearn Israela eodon þurh druᵹoþe. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 274 To South the Persian Bay, And inaccessible the Arabian drouth. |
4. Thirst.
arch. and
dial.| α 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 253 Whenne þow clomsest for colde oþer clyngest for drouthe. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xl. 28 Off wyne..They drank twa quartis..Of drowth sic excess did thame constrene. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 53 b, He called for drynke..one of hys chambrelaynes mervellynge, requyred the cause of hys drouth. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 325 His carcass, pined with hunger and with droughth. 1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus 63, I am taking it off to quench my Droughth. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 82/2 That burning drowth of the mind, which kept you waking. 1855 Browning De Gustibus ii, Where the baked cicalas die of drouth. |
| β 1588 Losses Span. Navy in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 52 Their flesh meat they cannot eat, their drought is so great. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 560 Feeling himself afflicted with a vehement Drought. 1847–8 H. Miller First Impr. xvi. (1857) 272, I asked..[for] something to slake my drought. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. drought-proof,
drought-resistant,
drought-resisting,
drought-stricken adjs.| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2107, vii. lene [eares]..Welkede, and smale, and druȝte numen [= drought-seized]. |
| 1822 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 169 That I may wet my drought-parch'd mind. |
| 1936 I. L. Idriess Cattle King xxxvi. 314 He hoped in time with bores to make it drought-proof. |
| 1952 New Biol. XIII. 41 Drought-resistant tetraploid types. |
| 1916 Nature 15 June 333/2 Special drought-resisting wheats. 1927 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents (ed. 2) 54 Drought-resisting bushes. |
| 1881 W. D. Hay 300 Years Hence ii. 34 Drought-stricken Indian districts. 1890 Daily News 1 Oct. 2/6 They traversed the same drought-stricken plain. 1911 E. M. Clowes On Wallaby ii. 28 Especially in drought-stricken districts. |