Etymograph

English

dreave

Dreave comes from Middle English dreven ‘to drive, pursue’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰreybʰ-1‘to drive, push’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draibijaną1‘to cause to drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*draibijan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drǣfan1‘to drive, drive out, expel’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dreven1‘to drive, pursue’
  6. Englishtodaydreave1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dreave
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English dræfan

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰreybʰ-Wiktionary, English dreave‘to drive, push’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draibijanąWiktionary, English dreave‘to cause to drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*draibijanWiktionary, Old English dræfanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150drǣfanWiktionary, English dreave‘to drive, drive out, expel’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drevenWiktionary, English dreave‘to drive, pursue’
  6. EnglishtodaydreaveWiktionary, English dreave

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- ‘to drive, push’

driving, drive, drove, drift, 2 more

Another origin of dreave

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150drīfanas drāf‘a drove, herd’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500draf
  3. Englishtodaydreave

Today it means

verb To drive; drive out; drive away; expel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dreave”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English dræfan. 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 *dʰreybʰ- / dreave

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