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dree

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dree¹

  • /dɹiː/ UK
  • /dɹi/ US
  • /ðreː/ Ireland
  • /driː/ Ireland
  • /dri/ Scotland

Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

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”)

verb drees · dreeing · dreed

  1. Northern England, Scotland, transitive 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!

    Similar: abear, abide, aby, accept, allow, bear, bide, brook, dree, endure, forbear, go along with

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

dree²

  • /dɹiː/ UK
  • /dɹi/ US
  • /ðreː/ Ireland
  • /driː/ Ireland
  • /dri/ Scotland

Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

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.

noun drees

  1. 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.

dree³

  • /dɹiː/ UK
  • /dɹi/ US
  • /ðreː/ Ireland
  • /driː/ Ireland
  • /dri/ Scotland

Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

From dreich (adjective).

adverb more dree · most dree

  1. Northern England, Scotland Of the doing of a task: with concentration; laboriously.
  2. Northern England, Scotland Chiefly of the falling of rain: without pause or stop; continuously, incessantly.
  3. Northern England, Scotland Slowly, tediously.

dree⁴

  • /dɹiː/ UK
  • /dɹi/ US
  • /ðreː/ Ireland
  • /driː/ Ireland
  • /dri/ Scotland

Rhymes with -iː

Where it comes from

See dreich.

adjective dreer · dreest

  1. Northern England, Scotland, alternative Alternative form of dreich To be sure, t' winter's been a dree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.

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MLA

"dree." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dree. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dree. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dree

Chicago

"dree." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dree.

BibTeX
@misc{dree_2026,
  title = {dree},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dree},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}