Droughte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water and hardship for crops and livestock
2. An extended spell of dry weather with insufficient precipitation, causing water scarcity and agricultural distress
3. A protracted absence of rain that results in dried-up land, depleted water supplies, and difficulty sustaining plant and animal life

Etymology: This is the Middle English form of the word now spelled "drought." It came from Old English "drūgaþ," a noun built on the adjective "drȳge," meaning "dry." The ending "-aþ" (later "-th") is a suffix that turns adjectives into nouns of state, the same pattern seen in "length" from "long" and "truth" from "true." So at its root the word simply meant "the condition of being dry." Because the word began as a state rather than an event, its earliest senses covered general dryness of ground, air, or a thing, not only a long period without rain. The sense of thirst also appears early, and Scots kept it alive as "drouth," which still means thirst in that dialect. The "gh" in the modern spelling was a later addition to a word that had earlier been written with "ou" and "th" endings, and the spelling has been stable since.