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dank

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Dank and -dank

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English danke (“wet, damp; dampness, moisture”), probably from North Germanic, related to Swedish dank (“marshy spot”), Icelandic dökk (“pool”), Old Norse dǫkk (“pit, depression”), from Proto-Germanic *dankwaz (“dark”). However, some trace it to a West Germanic source such as Dutch damp (“vapor”) or Middle High German damph, both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dampaz (“smoke, steam, vapor”).[1][2][3]

Modern slang senses derived from the drug sense; compare based (“awesome, especially in a right-wing context online”) from drug terminology freebased.

Adjective

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dank (comparative danker, superlative dankest)

  1. Dark, damp and humid.
    The dank cave was chilly and spooky.
    • 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:
      Now that the fields are dank and ways are mire.
    • 1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, The Story of Justin Martyr:
      Cheerless watches on the cold, dank ground.
    • 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXII:
      Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, / Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? [...]
    • 2022 November 30, Nick Brodrick, “Pride and innovation shine at St Pancras”, in RAIL, number 971, page 69:
      It's a world away from the dank and uninviting St Pancras that British Rail wanted to tear down in the 1960s.
  2. (figuratively, of marijuana) Moist and sticky, (by extension) highly potent.
    That was dank bud.
  3. (Internet slang, often ironic) Great, awesome.
  4. (originally 4chan slang) Expounding right-wing views in a cool way; based.
    • 2018, January 5, Rick Wilson, “Bannon Banished for Telling Truths About Trump as MAGA Monsters Turn on Each Other”, in The Daily Beast‎[2]:
      His house organ Breitbart and a host of Trump-right websites and news outlets sang praises to his dank genius.
    • 2025 May 2, Stephen Collins, “What to look for in Spring with Kemi Badenoch”, in The Guardian‎[3]:
      One thing that always brings me joy at this time of year is to spot a really dank meme. Or seeing the number of plays on my Jordan Peterson podcast, or beholding one of my mutuals get traction on X with a thread on Cultural Marxism and Gender Ideology […]
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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dank (uncountable)

  1. Moisture; humidity; water.
    • 1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], “The Prologue”, in Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
      The ravviſh danke of clumzie vvinter ramps / The fluent ſummers vaine: and drizling ſleete / Chilleth the vvan bleak cheek of the numd earth, / VVhilſt ſnarling guſts nibble the iuyceles leaues, / From the nak't ſhuddring branch; […]
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC:
      Yet oft they quit | The dank, and rising on siff pennons, tow'r | the mid aerial sky
  2. Dankness; a dark, moist and usually unpleasant atmosphere.
    • 1995, Greg Daniels, Bart Sells His Soul (The Simpsons):
      You ain't thinking of getting rid of the dank, are you, Moe?
    • 2002, Wendel Messer, The Sink: The Last Days of Driving, Wendel Messer, →ISBN:
      Out of curiosity I follow him down into the dank of the basement.
    • 2006 July 4, Michele Baxter, The Chronicles of Serendipus: The Tale of the Secret Keeper, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 77:
      Now, though, there was a sound that seemed quite out of place there in the dank of the forest. It was the most beautiful, harmonious sound that Susie had ever heard.
  3. (slang) Strong, high-quality cannabis.
    • 1995, “I Got 5 on It”, in Operation Stackola, performed by Luniz:
      I got more growin' pains than Maggie / 'Cause homies nag me to take the dank out of the baggie
    • 2015, Scott Jacques, Richard Wright, Code of the Suburb, page 9:
      Smoking mids will get you about three times higher than shwag, and same for dank—it'll be about six times higher than smoking some mids.

Etymology 2

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From Middle English danken, from the adjective (see above).

Verb

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dank (third-person singular simple present danks, present participle danking, simple past and past participle danked)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To moisten, dampen; used of mist, dew etc.

References

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  1. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
  2. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 669
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “dank”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 3

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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dank (plural danks)

  1. (historical) A small silver coin formerly used in Persia.

Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch danc, from Old Dutch thank, from Proto-Germanic *þankaz.

Noun

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dank m (uncountable, no diminutive)

  1. gratitude, thanks
  2. show/token of recognition
  3. reward, recompense
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Negerhollands: dank, danki, daṅki
  • → Papiamentu: danki
  • → Sranan Tongo: danki, tangi

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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dank

  1. inflection of danken:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

German

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Etymology

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From the noun Dank, as in phrases like "Dank sei dir", with the copula dropping away and a semantic broadening to cover causal senses. Compare English thanks to.

Pronunciation

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Preposition

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dank [with genitive or (formerly) dative]

  1. thanks to, because of, courtesy of
    Dank seiner Arbeit hat er genug Geld zum Leben.
    Thanks to his work he has enough money to live.

Usage notes

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  • Dank used to be more common with the dative, but today the genitive is more predominant.[1][2]
  • Personal pronouns, however, normally take the dative, although the genitive is possible in very elevated usage.
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References

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  1. ^ “dank des, dank dem”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.
  2. ^ “dank eines, dank einem”, in Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Further reading

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  • “dank” in Duden online
  • “dank” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Lower Sorbian

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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dank m inan

  1. tax, fine, levy, duty

Declension

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Declension of dank
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative dank danka danki
Genitive danka dankowu dankow
Dative dankoju dankoma dankam
Accusative dank danka danki
Instrumental dankom dankoma dankami
Locative danku dankoma dankach

Further reading

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  • Starosta, Manfred (1999), “dank”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Luxembourgish

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Verb

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dank

  1. second-person singular imperative of danken
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