English

dropout

Deverbal from drop out.

A compound of drop + out

Proto-Germanic *drupô ‘drop’

Proto-West Germanic *dropō ‘drop’

Old English dropa ‘a drop’

Middle English droppe ‘small quantity of liquid’

English drop

Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away’

Proto-Germanic *ūt ‘out’

Proto-West Germanic *ūt ‘out’

Old English ūt ‘out’

Middle English out

English out

Today it means

noun Someone who has left an educational institution without completing the course

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.