drenchen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• drenche, drynche, dreinchen, drenge, drengen

Etymology

From Old English drenċan and ġedrenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *drankijan, from Proto-Germanic *drankijaną (“to cause to drink, drench”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdrɛnt͡ʃən/, /ˈdrint͡ʃən/

Verb

drenchen

1. (transitive, intransitive) To submerge; to place underwater:
   1. (transitive) To sink a nation or region; to flood.
   2. (intransitive) To drown; die by drowning.
      • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Miller's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 3519–3521:

        […] This world, he ſeyde, in laſſe than an hour / Shal al be dreynt, ſo hidous is the ſhour. / Thus ſhal mankynde drenche, and leſe hir lyf.

        This world, he said, in under an hour, / will all be drowned, as the shower'll be that strong. / Thus humankind will perish and lose their lives.

   3. (transitive) To end one's life via drowning.
2. (intransitive) To be submerged or placed underwater.
3. (transitive, sometimes reflexive) To totally surround, surge, or submerge; to overpower.
4. (intransitive) To be totally surrounded, surged, or submerged.
5. (transitive, rare) To provide with or offer a beverage.
6. (intransitive, rare) To consume or have a beverage.

Conjugation

Descendants

• English: drench
• Scots: drynch

References

• “drenchen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-14.