dree meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

dree

verb

UK /dɹiː/ · US /dɹi/

Etymology Probably partly borrowed from Scots dree, and partly derived from its etymon Middle English dreen, dreghen, dreogen, drien, from Old English drēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *dreugan, from Proto-Germanic *dreuganą (“to act; to work, (specifically) to do military service”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to hold fast”). Doublet of dreich, dright, and drighten. Cognates * Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌽 (driugan, “to do military service”) * Icelandic drýgja (“to commit, connect, perpetrate, lengthen”) * Scots dree, drie (“to bear, endure, suffer, thole”)

Northern England, Scotland To bear or endure (something); to put up with, to suffer, to undergo.

Peace to the souls of the graveless dead! / 'Twas an awful doom to dree; / But fearful and wondrous are thy works, / O God! in the boundless sea!1826, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Literary Gazette, 16th September: The Frozen Ship:
And redoubled pine for its dwellers I dree.1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume VIII, [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:

Northern England, Scotland To endure; to brook; also, to be able to do or continue.

Derived terms: adree, dree one's weird

dree

noun

Etymology

Probably partly: * derived from the verb (see etymology 1); and * borrowed from Scots dree, or derived from its etymon Middle English dri, drie, dregh, dreghe (“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”), possibly from Middle English dregh, dri, drie (“burdensome; depressing, dismal; large, tall; lasting, long; long-suffering, patient; tedious; of blows: hard, heavy; of the face: unchanging, unmoved; of a person: strong, valorous”), from Old English *drēog, *drēoȝ, dreoh (“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly: ** shortened from Old English gedrēog (“calm, quiet; sober; fit, suitable”, adjective); and ** influenced by Old Norse drjúgr (“sufficient; excessive, very; great; strong”), from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (see above). Doublet of dreich.

Northern England, Northumbria, Scotland, Archaic Grief; suffering; trouble.

Life is blood, shed and offered. / The eagle’s eye can face this dree. / To beasts of chase the lie is proffered: / Timor Mortis Conturbat Me.1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter VIII, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, book I (The Sword in the Stone):

Derived terms: endree

dree

adv

Etymology From dreich (adjective).

Northern England, Scotland Of the doing of a task: with concentration; laboriously.

Northeast Midlands

Northern England, Scotland Chiefly of the falling of rain: without pause or stop; continuously, incessantly.

Northeast Midlands

Northern England, Scotland Slowly, tediously.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.