Dree

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /dɹiː/

Definitions

1. To undergo a trial or hardship with steadfastness To persist through challenging conditions while maintaining resolve To bear the strain of adversity over an extended period of time
2. To suffer through difficult or adverse conditions steadily and without giving up
3. To patiently withstand prolonged distress or discomfort with resilience

Etymology: Old English "drēogan" meant "to work" or "to perform", and in Germanic times it could mean to do military service, so the modern sense of putting up with hardship is a later narrowing. Its relatives are still around in other languages. Gothic "driugan" meant to serve as a soldier, and Icelandic "drýgja" meant to commit or perpetrate, which shows how far the family spread from simple labour. Scots kept the word alive. Its form "dree" meant "to bear, endure, suffer", and English speakers in the north and borrowed it back into the standard language. Meanwhile English had a separate adjective, "dreich", that described something dreary or long-lasting. The two words are doublets, meaning they share an origin but reached English by different routes.