Eavesdrip

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Water dripping down from the edge of a roof onto the ground below
2. The flow of rain or melted moisture falling off the lower border of a roof
3. Rainwater or liquid that falls from the overhanging part of a building's roof

Etymology: The word is a plain compound: "eaves" and "drip," put together to name the water that falls from the lower edge of a roof. "Eaves" is an old word for the overhanging border of a roof, and it is one of the few English terms for that part of a building that has survived from very early use. "Drip" is the familiar verb for water falling in drops, so the compound describes exactly what happens there: rain runs off the roof edge and drips down. Because the parts are so transparent, the word needs little explanation beyond that. The one point worth noticing is that "eaves" is almost always heard in the plural, and the singular "eave" is rarely used on its own, which is why the compound keeps the plural form even when it refers to a single stretch of roof edge.