dreorig

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz. Cognate with Old Saxon drōrag, Old High German trūrag, Old Norse dreyrugr. Equivalent to drēor +‎ -iġ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdre͜oː.rij/

Adjective

drēoriġ

  1. sad
    Dēaþ biþ simle drēoriġ, for þon þe ealle menn sind ġelufode, oþþe hūru lufe wierðe.
    Death is always sad, because all people are loved, or at least deserve love.
    • c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints
      Hwȳ eart þū swā drēoriġ?
      Why are you so sad?
    • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
      Þā besēah Martinus wið þǣs sċeoccan lēoht, ġemyndiġ on mōde hū sē Metoda Drihten cwæð on his godspelle þe his godcundan tōcyme, and cwæð tō ðām lēasan mid ġelǣredum mūðe, "Ne sǣde ūre Hǣlend þæt hē swā wolde bēon mid purpuran gehīwod, oððe mid helme scīnende, þonne hē eft cōme mid engla ðrymme." Đā fordwān sē deofol drēoriġ him fram, and sēo stōw ðā stanc mid ormǣtum stenċe, æfter andwerdnysse þǣs eġeslīċan gāstes.
      Then Martinus beheld the demon's light, mindful of what the Lord God said in his gospel about his divine coming, and said to the false one with learned mouth, "Our Savior did not say that he would be habited in purple, or that he would have a shining crown, when he came again with a host of angels." Then the sad devil disappeared, and the place stank with a powerful stench after the presence of the horrible spirit.
  2. bloody, gory

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: dreorig, drerig, drerg, dreri, druri, drury