Etymograph

English

drain

Drain comes from Old English drēahnian ‘to drain’, from Proto-Germanic *draugiz ‘hard, solid’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰer-1‘to support’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrewgʰ-1‘to deceive’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draugiz1‘hard, solid’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drauhnōną1reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*drauhnōn1reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150drēahnian1‘to drain’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*dreinen1reconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1627drain1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English drain
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰer-Wiktionary, English drain‘to support’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrewgʰ-Wiktionary, English drain‘to deceive’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draugizWiktionary, English drain‘hard, solid’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drauhnōnąWiktionary, English drainreconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*drauhnōnWiktionary, English drainreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150drēahnianWiktionary, English drain‘to drain’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*dreinenWiktionary, English drainreconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1627drainWiktionary, English drain. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, (please specify the page, or |century=I to X): “Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support’

dark, firm, dry, dare, throne, drama, feasible, drone, formidable, darn, dharma, drastic, dazed, refrain, dor, dern, 41 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- ‘to deceive’

dream, fraud, drudge, truculent, druggist, 16 more

through Proto-Germanic *draugiz ‘hard, solid’

drug, 3 more

Today it means

noun A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “drain”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- / drain

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