English
drastic
Drastic may come from Ancient Greek δραστικός ‘active, efficient’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδραστικόςdrastikós‘active, efficient’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1871-72drastic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδραστικόςdrastikós‘active, efficient’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1871-72drastic
Earliest quotation: 1871-72, George Eliot: “Great statesmen err, and why not small medical men?…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support, hold’
dark, firm, drug, dry, dare, throne, drone, formidable, darn, drain, feasible, refrain, dharma, dazed, dor, dern, 39 more
through Lithuanian darýti ‘to make’
melodrama, dramatist, dramatize, 14 more
through Ancient Greek δράω ‘to do’
Today it means
adj Having a strong or far-reaching effect; extreme, severe.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek δραστικός / drastic