Drope

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. An archaic past tense of the verb drop, meaning that something fell or was let fall downward
2. Old-fashioned past form of drop, used to describe something that sank, descended or was released and came down
3. Obsolete preterite of the verb to drop, indicating a movement downward or a letting fall of something

Etymology: Before "drop" became standard, English writers spelled it "drope," a Middle English form descended from the Old English noun "dropa," meaning a single bead of liquid. Its verb partner, "droppian," meant to fall in drops, and both came from a Germanic root that also gave Old Norse "dropi" and Dutch "drop." The sound and meaning stayed nearly unchanged across the centuries, so the modern word differs from its ancestor mainly in spelling. The "e" at the end of "drope" was once pronounced and marked a long vowel, as in many Middle English words. As spelling conventions shifted and the final "e" fell silent in speech, writers dropped it, and "drop" became the usual spelling. "Drope" survives today only in historical texts and in older editions of Middle English works.