drizzle

The story

1. Northumbrian Old English · inherited fromdrysnan“to extinguish”
2. Middle English · inherited fromdrysning“a falling of dew”
3. English todaydrizzle

Perhaps a back-formation from dryseling, a dissimilated variant of Middle English drysning (“a falling of dew”), from Northumbrian Old English drysnan (“to extinguish”), related to Old English drēosan (“to fall, to decline”), making it cognate to modern English droze and drowse. Compare also dialectal Swedish drösla.