dreg

Definition

singular of dregs (“sediment in a liquid”)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse dregg (“sediment”), from Proto-Germanic *dragjō (whence also Icelandic dregg, Swedish drägg), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“sediment”); see also Latin fraces (“lees of oil”), Albanian ndrag (“to make dirty, foul”), dra (“sediments of dairy products or liquids”).

Example Sentences

• "to the last dreg"
• "What makes this pretty abruption? What too curious dreg espies my sweet lady in the fountain of our love?"
• "O! be the cup of joy to thee consign'd, / Of joy unmix'd, without a dreg behind!"