dree

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɹiː/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɹi/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ðreː/, /driː/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /dri/
• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

Probably partly borrowed from Scots dree, and partly derived from its etymon Middle English dreen, dreghen, dreogen, drien, from Old English drēogan, 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.

Verb

dree (third-person singular simple present drees, present participle dreeing, simple past and past participle dreed) (chiefly Northern England, Scotland)

1. (transitive) To bear or endure (something); to put up with, to suffer, to undergo.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:tolerate

   • 1826, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Literary Gazette, 16th September: The Frozen Ship:

     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!

   • 1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night , Shammar edition, volume VIII, : Burton Club , →OCLC:

     And redoubled pine for its dwellers I dree.

2. (intransitive) To endure; to brook; also, to be able to do or continue.

Derived terms

• adree
• dree one's weird

Etymology 2

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), from ġe- (prefix forming adjectives of association or similarity) + Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (“enduring, lasting”) (from *dreuganą (“to serve, be a retainer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to serve one’s tribe; loyal”)); and
  • influenced by Old Norse drjúgr (“sufficient; excessive, very; great; strong”), from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (see above).

Doublet of dreich.

Noun

dree (plural drees)

1. (chiefly Northumbria, Scotland, archaic) Grief; suffering; trouble.
   • 1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter VIII, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, book I (The Sword in the Stone):

     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.

Etymology 3

From dreich (adjective).

Adverb

dree (comparative more dree, superlative most dree)

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

Etymology 4

See dreich.

Adjective

dree (comparative dreer, superlative dreest)

1. Alternative form of dreich
   • 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “The Engagement”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , →OCLC, page 40:

     To be sure, t' winter's been a dree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.

   • 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “Wedding Raiment”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , →OCLC, page 278:

     But he's lying i' such dree poverty,—and niver a friend to go near him,—niver a person to speak a kind word t' him.

   • a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Hay Hut among the Mountains”, in Warren Roberts, Harry T. Moore, editors, Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished, and Other Prose Works by D. H. Lawrence , Viking Compass edition, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published 1970, →ISBN, part I (Stories and Sketches), page 43:

     So, after two hours' running downhill, we came out in the level valley at Glashütte. It was raining now, a thick dree rain.

Derived terms

• dreely

References

Anagrams

• -dere, Eder, Rede, Reed, de re, deer, dere, rede, reed

Low German

Alternative forms

• drei
• dre

Etymology

From Middle Low German drê, drî, drie, from Old Saxon thrie.

Numeral

dree

1. three

Coordinate terms

Related terms

• (ordinal numeral) darde (East Frisian), drüdde, drüdd', drütt, drütte (in Dithmarschen)

Luxembourgish

Verb

dree

1. second-person singular imperative of dreeën

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From Middle Low German drê, drî, drie, from Old Saxon thrie.

Numeral

dree

1. three

Scots

Etymology

From Old English drēogan, from Proto-West Germanic *dreugan, from Proto-Germanic *dreuganą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /driː/

Verb

dree (third-person singular simple present drees, present participle dreein, simple past dreed, past participle dreed)

1. to endure, suffer, put up with, undergo

Derived terms

• dree one’s weird

Yola

Numeral

dree

1. Alternative form of dhree
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Dree deemes.

     Three times.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 33