Wiktionary

dust

See also: Dust and ďüst

English edit

 
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Etymology edit

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 edit

Noun edit

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, Australia, slang, dated) Flour.
    5. (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.
  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 edit

Descendants edit

  • → Russian: дуст (dust)

Translations edit

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

Verb edit

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 edit

Translations edit

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

See also edit

Anagrams edit

Faroese edit

Etymology edit

From Old Norse dust.

Noun edit

dust n (genitive singular dusts, uncountable)

  1. dust

Declension edit

Declension of dust (singular only)
n3s singular
indefinite definite
nominative dust dustið
accusative dust dustið
dative dusti dustinum
genitive dusts dustsins

Icelandic edit

Etymology edit

From Old Norse dust.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

dust n (genitive singular dusts, no plural)

  1. dust
    Synonyms: ryk, duft

Declension edit

declension of dust
n-s singular
indefinite definite
nominative dust dustið
accusative dust dustið
dative dusti dustinu
genitive dusts dustsins

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

Noun edit

dust (uncountable)

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

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

References edit

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Etymology 1 edit

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

Noun edit

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

  1. (derogatory) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Old Norse dust.

Noun edit

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

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)

References edit

Norwegian Nynorsk edit

Etymology 1 edit

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

Noun edit

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

  1. (derogatory) dork, moron, fool
Synonyms edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Old Norse dust.

Noun edit

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

  1. dust (fine, dry particles)

References edit

Old English edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

Noun edit

dūst n

  1. dust; powder; mill dust

Declension edit

Declension of dust (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative dūst dūst
accusative dūst dūst
genitive dūstes dūsta
dative dūste dūstum

Descendants edit

Old Norse edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Germanic *dustą.

Noun edit

dust n

  1. dust particle

Descendants edit

References edit

  • “dust”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Scottish Gaelic edit

Etymology edit

From English dust.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)

  1. dust

Usage notes edit

  • Also used figuratively for corpse.

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Swedish edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

dust c

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

Declension edit

Declension of dust 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative dust dusten duster dusterna
Genitive dusts dustens dusters dusternas

References edit

Zazaki edit

Noun edit

dust

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

Derived terms edit

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