dust

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English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)

  1. (uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
  2. (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
    • 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
      […] once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn't it?
  3. (obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
    • Shakespeare
      to touch a dust of England's ground
  4. The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
    • Bible, Job vii. 21
      I shall sleep in the dust.
  5. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
    • Tennyson
      And you may carve a shrine about my dust.
  6. (figuratively) Something worthless.
    • Shakespeare
      And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
  7. (figuratively) A low or mean condition.
    • Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
      [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
  8. (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
  9. (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from dust

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)

  1. (transitive) To remove dust from.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
  2. (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
    Dusting always makes me cough.
  3. (intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
  4. (transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
    The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.
  5. (chiefly US slang) To leave; to rush off.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, page 75:
      He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I'd like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
  6. To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sprat to this entry?)

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Norwegian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)

Noun[edit]

dust m

  1. (pejorative) dork, moron, tool
Inflection[edit]
    Inflection of dust
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål m dust dusten duster dustene
Nynorsk m dust dusten dustar dustane
Derived terms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
References[edit]
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse dust.

Noun[edit]

dust

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)
Inflection[edit]
    Inflection of dust
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Bokmål f dust dusta duster dustene
Bokmål m dust dusten duster dustene
Nynorsk f dust dusta duster dustene
References[edit]
  • “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *dunstiz (“dust, vapor”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“vapor, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं (dhu'āṁ, “smoke”), Middle Dutch dost, donst, duust (Dutch dons, duist), Old High German tunst, dunst (German Dunst), Low German dust, Icelandic dust, Norwegian dust, Danish dyst.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dūst n

  1. dust; powder; mill dust

Declension[edit]

Declension of dust (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative dūst dūst
accusative dūst dūst
genitive dūstes dūsta
dative dūste dūstum

Descendants[edit]

Old Norse[edit]

Noun[edit]

dust n

  1. dust particle

References[edit]

  • dust in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Noun[edit]

dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)

  1. dust

Usage notes[edit]

  • Also used figuratively for corpse.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

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