Where does “drone” come from?

drone (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from Middle Low German drōne, from Old Saxon drāna, from Proto-West Germanic drānu, from Proto-Germanic drēnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n-.

drone (Norwegian Bokmål): a drone

Definitions

  1. a drone

Ancestry of “drone”, step by step

drone traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle Low German drōne

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Low Germandrōne—
2Old Saxondrāna—
3Proto-West Germanicdrānudrone, male bee
4Proto-Germanicdrēnuzmale bee or wasp; drone
5Proto-Indo-European*dʰreh₁n-—

via English drone

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdroneA male ant, bee or wasp, which does not work but...
2Middle Englishdrounento roar, bellow

Words derived from “drone”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n- →Every word from Proto-Germanic drēnuz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic drānu →