dust

dust · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dʰewh₂-“to smoke, raise dust”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*dustą“dust”
3. Old English · inherited fromdūst“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”
4. Middle English · inherited fromdust
5. English todaydust

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

Dust · proper noun²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*dustą
2. Old Saxon · derived fromdust
3. English todayDust

* As an English surname, from the noun dust. * As a north German surname, from the noun Dust with the same meaning as above, from Middle Low German and Old Saxon dust, from Proto-Germanic *dustą.

Words from the same roots