Etymograph

English

dropmeal

Dropmeal comes from Old English dropmǣlum ‘one drop at a time’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *drupô.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drupô1‘a drop (of liquid)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dropō1‘drop (of liquid)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dropa2‘drop’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dropmǣlum3‘one drop at a time’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dropmele3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1601dropmeal3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English dropa
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English dropmælum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English dropmeal
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., (please specify |book=I to XXXVII): “deliuer their vrine but dropmeale and with difficultie”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*drupôWiktionary, Old English dropa‘a drop (of liquid)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dropōWiktionary, Old English dropa‘drop (of liquid)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150dropaWiktionary, Old English dropmælum‘drop’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dropmǣlumWiktionary, English dropmeal‘one drop at a time’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dropmeleWiktionary, English dropmeal
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1601dropmealWiktionary, English dropmeal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1601, Caius Plinius Secundus [i.e., (please specify |book=I to XXXVII): “deliuer their vrine but dropmeale and with difficultie”

Formed from drop + -meal

Proto-Germanic *drupô ‘drop’

Proto-West Germanic *dropō ‘drop’

Old English dropa ‘a drop’

Middle English droppe ‘small quantity of liquid’

English drop

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *drupô ‘a drop (of liquid)’

drip, 1 more

Today it means

adv One drop at a time, drop by drop.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dropmeal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English dropa, Old English dropmælum. 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-Germanic *drupô / dropmeal

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