Probably partly borrowed fromScotsdree,[1] and partly derived from itsetymonMiddle Englishdreen,dreghen,dreogen,drien,[2] fromOld Englishdrēogan, fromProto-West Germanic*dreugan, fromProto-Germanic*dreuganą(“to act; to work, (specifically) to do military service”), fromProto-Indo-European*dʰrewgʰ-(“to hold fast”).[3]Doublet ofdreich,dright, anddrighten.
dree (third-person singular simple presentdrees,present participledreeing,simple past and past participledreed)(chiefly Northern England, Scotland)
- (transitive) Tobear orendure (something); toput up with, tosuffer, toundergo.
- Synonyms:seeThesaurus:tolerate
1826,Letitia Elizabeth Landon,The Literary Gazette, 16th September: The Frozen Ship:Peace to the souls of the graveless dead! / 'Twas an awful doom todree; / But fearful and wondrous are thy works, / O God! in the boundless sea!
- (intransitive) To endure; tobrook; also, to beable todo orcontinue.
Probably partly:
- derived from the verb (seeetymology 1);[4] and
- borrowed fromScotsdree,[1] or derived from itsetymonMiddle Englishdri,drie,dregh,dreghe(“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”),[5] possibly fromMiddle Englishdregh,dri,drie(“burdensome; depressing, dismal; large, tall; lasting, long; long-suffering, patient; tedious; of blows: hard, heavy; of the face: unchanging, unmoved; of a person: strong, valorous”),[6] fromOld English*drēog,*drēoȝ,dreoh(“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly:[7]
Doublet ofdreich.
dree (pluraldrees)
- (chiefly Northumbria, Scotland, archaic)Grief;suffering;trouble.
Fromdreich(adjective).
dree (comparativemoredree,superlativemostdree)
- (Northeast Midlands, Northern England)
- Of thedoing of atask: withconcentration;laboriously.
- Chiefly of thefalling ofrain: withoutpause orstop;continuously,incessantly.
- (Lancashire, Scotland)Slowly,tediously.
Seedreich.
dree (comparativedreer,superlativedreest)
- Alternative form ofdreich.
1863,[Elizabeth] Gaskell, “The Engagement”, inSylvia’s Lovers. […], volume II, London:Smith, Elder and Co., […],→OCLC,page40:To be sure, t' winter's been adree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.
1863,[Elizabeth] Gaskell, “Wedding Raiment”, inSylvia’s Lovers. […], volume II, London:Smith, Elder and Co., […],→OCLC,page278:But he's lying i' suchdree poverty,—and niver a friend to go near him,—niver a person to speak a kind word t' him.
a.1931 (date written),D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Hay Hut among the Mountains”, in Warren Roberts, Harry T. Moore, editors,Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished, and Other Prose Works by D. H. Lawrence […], Viking Compass edition, New York, N.Y.:Viking Press, published1970,→ISBN, part I (Stories and Sketches),page43:So, after two hours' running downhill, we came out in the level valley at Glashütte. It was raining now, a thickdree rain.
- ↑1.01.1“dree,v.1,n.1”, inThe Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh:Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present,→OCLC.
- ^“drīen,v.(2)”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- ^Compare“dree,v.”, inOED Online
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, December 2023;“dree,v.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022. - ^“dree,n.”, inOED Online, Oxford:Oxford University Press,July 2023.
- ^“drī(e,n.(2)”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- ^“drī(e,adj.(2)”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- ^“dreich,adj.”, inOED Online, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2023;“dreich,adj.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
FromMiddle Low Germandrê,drî,drie, fromOld Saxonthrie.
dree
- three
Cardinal numbers from 0 to 99
Cardinal numbers from 100 onward
dree
- second-personsingularimperative ofdreeën
FromMiddle Low Germandrê,drî,drie, fromOld Saxonthrie.
dree
- three
FromOld Englishdrēogan, fromProto-West Germanic*dreugan, fromProto-Germanic*dreuganą.
dree (third-person singular simple presentdrees,present participledreein,simple past and past participledreed)
- toendure,suffer, put up with,undergo
dree
- alternative form ofdhree
1867,GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page33
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, December 2023;“dree,v.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.