drowse
English
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drowse
- /ˈdɹaʊ̯z/ US, UK
- /ˈdɹæʊ̯z/
- /ˈdɹaːz/
Rhymes with -aʊz
Where it comes from
The verb is either:
* a back-formation from drowsy, which is attested earlier; or
* possibly from Middle English *drousen (no known attestations), from Old English drūsan, drūsian (“to droop, sink; to become feeble, inactive, low, or slow, drowse”), from Proto-Germanic *drūsijaną (“to look down; mourn”) (possibly merged with *dreusaną (“to fall”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewHs- (“to break off; to fall down”).
The noun is derived from the verb.
cognates
* Danish drøse (“to be negligent; to slow down”)
* Dutch drozen (“to doze; muse”)
* German trauern (“to mourn, be sad”)
* Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (driusan, “to fall; to fall down”)
* Norwegian døse (“to drowse”)
* Old English drēosan (“to fall; to perish; to rush”) (whence Middle English dresen (“to fall down”))
* Swedish drösa (“to be slow”)
verb drowses · drowsing · drowsed · drowse
- To make (someone or something) heavy with drowsiness or sleepiness. Novv vvhen as vvine had drovvned and drouſed the underſtanding: vvhen the night ſeaſon, vvhen the entermingling of men and vvomen together one vvith another (and namely, they of young and tender yeeres, vvith thoſe of elder age) had cleane put out & extinguiſhed all reſpect and regard of ſhamefaſt h
- Followed by away: to pass (time) drowsily or in sleeping; also, to proceed (on a way) drowsily or sleepily. [T]he wary tadpole returned from exile, the bullfrog resumed his ancient song, the tranquil turtle sunned his back upon bank and log and drowsed his grateful life away as in the old sweet days of yore.
- To make (someone or something) dull or inactive, as if from sleepiness. Then, father, I will lead your legions forth, / Compact in steeled squares, and speared files, / And bid our trumpets speak a fell rebuke / To nations drows'd in peace!
- Often followed by away or off: to be drowsy or sleepy; to be half-asleep. He vvas […] Seene, but vvith ſuch eie / As ſicke and blunted vvith communitie, / Affoord no extraordinary gaze, / Such as is bent on ſu[n]-like maieſtie, / VVhen it ſhines ſeldome in admiring eies, / But rather drovvzed, and hung their eie-lids dovvn, / Slept in his face, and rendred ſuch aſpect / A
- To be dull or inactive, as if from sleepiness. Ill huſbandry drowſeth at fortune ſo awke, / good huſbandry rowſeth him ſelfe like a hawke.
noun drowses
- An act, or a state, of being drowsy or sleepy. in a drowse
- A state of dullness or inactivity, as if from sleepiness. Here, in this latest August dawn, / By windows opening on the lawn, / Where shadows yet are sharp with night, / And sunshine seems asleep, though bright; / And, further on, the wealthy wheat / Bends in a golden drowse, how sweet / To sit, and cast my careless looks / Around my walls of well-read boo
Translations
Every language
verb (transitive) to make (someone or something) heavy with drowsiness or sleepiness
| Español | amodorrecer (desus.), amodorrar, modorrar |
|---|
noun act, or a state, of being drowsy or sleepy
| Français | somnolence |
|---|---|
| Italiano | dormiente |
| Русский | дрёма drjóma |
Talk about this word "drowse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/drowse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. drowse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/drowse "drowse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/drowse.Cite this
@misc{drowse_2026,
title = {drowse},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/drowse},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
