Drought
/draʊt/noun
A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall that causes a shortage of water.
Did you know?The word is historically tied to the same Germanic root behind “dry,” so drought originally carried the sense of land being made dry rather than just “a lack of rain.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*drūhti- / *drūhtō-
“A drying, drying up, or dry condition”
Old English
OE
drūgþ
“Dryness; a drought”
Middle English
ME
drouȝt
“Dry weather; a period of lack of rain”
16th Century
English
drought
“A long period of dry weather with little or no rain”
Modern English
English
drought
“A prolonged shortage of rainfall or water”