Deluvie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a great flood or overwhelming downpour of water across land
2. An obsolete word describing a vast inundation, the kind of overflow that covers the ground entirely
3. A rare old expression for a huge surge of water that spreads over an area and submerges it

Etymology: "Deluvie" is an obsolete English noun meaning a flood or deluge, and it entered English in the 1400s, borrowed from Old French "deluvie," itself from Late Latin "diluvium," meaning a flood or inundation. The Latin noun derives from "diluere," "to wash away," built from "di-" (apart, away) and "luere" (to wash), the same root behind "lave" and "lotion." The most famous Latin use of "diluvium" was in the Vulgate Bible, where it translates the Hebrew for the great flood of Noah, which is why the word became so closely tied to that story. English writers adopted "deluge" from the same Latin root, through Old French "deluge," and that form outlasted "deluvie," which dropped out of use by the 1700s.

Synonyms: deluge, flood, inundation

Antonyms: drought