Wiktionary

dust

See also: Dust and ďüst

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”).

Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)

  1. Fine particles.
    1. (uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
      • 2022 September 7, “East-West track laying heads westwards”, in RAIL, number 965, page 37, photo caption:
        There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator.
    2. (uncountable) Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.
    3. (uncountable, astronomy) Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.
    4. (uncountable, occupational health) Disintegration of a solid, like silica.
    5. (uncountable, Australia, slang, dated) Flour.
    6. (countable, obsolete) A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust.
  2. (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
    • 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England, page 150:
      […] once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn’t it?
  3. (countable) The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself.
  4. (poetic) Earth, ground, soil, sediment.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 54:
      But I should turn mine ears and hear
      The moanings of the homeless sea,
      ⁠The sound of streams that swift or slow
      ⁠Draw down Æonian hills, and sow
      The dust of continents to be; […]
  5. The earth as the resting place of the dead.
  6. The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
  7. (figurative) The substance of the human body or mortal frame.
  8. (figurative) Something worthless.
  9. (figurative) A low or mean condition.
  10. (British, colloquial) Rubbish, garbage, refuse.
  11. (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
    • 1852, George Colvocoresses, Four Years in a Government Exploring Expedition:
      ‘And what do you ask for it?’ ‘Fifteen thousand dollars.’ ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Then down with the dust.’
  12. (countable) A cloud of dust.
  13. (countable, figurative) A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar.
    to raise, or kick up, a dust
  14. (countable, colloquial) A fight or row.
  15. (countable, mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
  16. (cryptocurrencies) Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Russian: дуст (dust)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)

  1. (transitive) To remove dust from.
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
  2. (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
    Dusting always makes me cough.
  3. (transitive, archaic) To make dusty, to soil with dust.
  4. (intransitive or reflexive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
  5. (transitive) To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.
    The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder.
  6. (transitive) To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.
  7. (intransitive, chiefly US slang) To leave quickly; to rush off.
    • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 75:
      He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To drink up quickly; to toss off.
  9. (transitive, obsolete) To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.
    • 1667, Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society of London:
      good Powder differs from bad […] in having more Peter and less Coal; and lastly, in the well dusting of it
  10. (transitive, now colloquial or dialectal) To strike, beat, thrash.
  11. (transitive, chiefly US slang) To defeat badly, to thrash.
  12. (transitive, chiefly US slang) To kill.
  13. (transitive, baseball) To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back.
  14. (cryptocurrencies) To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Anagrams

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Faroese

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Etymology

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From Old Norse dust.

Noun

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dust n (genitive singular dusts, uncountable)

  1. dust

Declension

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n3s singular
indefinite definite
nominative dust dustið
accusative dust dustið
dative dusti dustinum
genitive dusts dustsins

Icelandic

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Etymology

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From Old Norse dust.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dust n (genitive singular dusts, no plural)

  1. dust
    Synonyms: ryk, duft

Declension

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Declension of dust (sg-only neuter)
singular
indefinite definite
nominative dust dustið
accusative dust dustið
dative dusti dustinu
genitive dusts dustsins

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Forms with a long vowel are from Old English dūst, from Proto-Germanic *dunstą. Forms with a short vowel are from Old English *dust, from Proto-Germanic *dustą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dust (uncountable)

  1. dust, powder
  2. dirt, grit
  3. (figurative) iota, modicum
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Descendants

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References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology 1

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Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)

Noun

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dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)

  1. (derogatory) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse dust.

Noun

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dust f or m (definite singular dusta or dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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From Old Norse dust (dust particle), compare with dustete.

Noun

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dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural dustar, definite plural dustane)

  1. (derogatory) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse dust.

Noun

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dust f (definite singular dusta, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)

References

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *dunstą (“dust, vapour”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“vapour, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं (dhuā̃, “smoke”), Middle Dutch dost, donst, duust (Dutch dons, duist), Old High German tunst, dunst (German Dunst), Low German dust, Icelandic dust, Norwegian dust, Danish dyst.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dūst n

  1. dust; powder; mill dust
    • late 9th century, Old English Martyrology
      Sē Antonius ġesēah þǣs Paules sāwle swā hwīte swā snāw stīgan tō heofonum betweoh engla þrēatas; ond tweġen lēon ādulfan his byrġenne on þǣs wēstenes sande; þǣr resteð Paules līchoma mid yfellīċe dūste bewrigen, ac on dōmes dæġe hē ariseð on wuldor.
      Antonius saw Paul's soul, as white as snow, ascend to heaven among throngs of angels; and two lions dug his tomb in the sand of the desert. There lies Paul's body, covered by filthy dust, but on Judgement Day he will arise in glory.

Declension

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Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative dūst dūst
accusative dūst dūst
genitive dūstes dūsta
dative dūste dūstum

Descendants

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Old Norse

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *dustą.

Noun

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dust n

  1. dust particle

Descendants

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Further reading

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  • Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “dust”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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From English dust.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)

  1. dust

Usage notes

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  • Also used figuratively for corpse.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Swedish

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Swedish dust, duster, diost, from Middle Low German dust, diost, from Old French joste, juste, from Latin juxta. Cognate of Danish dyst, French joute.

Noun

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dust c

  1. a joust
  2. (figuratively) a (minor) verbal or physical confrontation, a bout, a tussle, a run-in

Declension

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Declension of dust
nominative genitive
singular indefinite dust dusts
definite dusten dustens
plural indefinite duster dusters
definite dusterna dusternas

References

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Zazaki

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Noun

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dust

  1. side; one half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone.
  2. to level

Derived terms

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