English
dearth
Dearth comes from Middle English derth.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500derth
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606dearth
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500derth
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606dearth
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed…”
Formed from dear + -th
Proto-Germanic *diurijaz ‘dear’
Proto-West Germanic *diurī ‘valuable’
Old English dēore ‘of great value or excellence’
Middle English dere
English dear
first attested First attested at least as early as the late 1300s, and appearing in Tyndale’s Pentateuch (1530) as well as the Coverdale Bible (1535) (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested at least as early as the late 1300s, and appearing in Tyndale’s Pentateuch (1530) as well as the Coverdale Bible (1535).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- ‘to burn’
day, dawn, fever, daw, febrile, foment, 19 more
through Proto-Germanic *diurijaz ‘dear, precious’
Today it means
noun A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English derth / dearth