Etymograph

English

drenching

Drenching comes from Middle English drenchinge.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drenchinge1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1859drenching1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English drenching
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Shirley Hibberd, The Town Garden: “[…] and it contains a very good selection of…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drenchingeWiktionary, English drenching
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1859drenchingWiktionary, English drenching. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Shirley Hibberd, The Town Garden: “[…] and it contains a very good selection of…”

Formed from drench + -ing

Proto-Germanic *drankiz ‘drink’

Proto-West Germanic *dranki

Old English drenċ ‘drink’

Middle English drench ‘beverage, drink’

English drench

Every English word from Middle English drenchinge

Today it means

noun The act by which something is drenched; a soaking.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “drenching”. 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 / Middle English drenchinge / drenching

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