Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “drosse” come from?

drosse (Middle English) comes from Old English drōs, from Proto-Germanic drōhs, from Proto-Indo-European dʰrā́ks — dregs, sediment.

Ancestry of “drosse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishdrōs—
2Proto-Germanicdrōhsdregs, sediment
3Proto-Indo-Europeandʰrā́ksdregs, sediment

Words derived from “drosse”

  • dross
  • drossy
  • drossless
  • drossiness
  • undrossy
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰrā́ks →