drove

Meanings

Noun

Verb

  • Past of drive
  • To herd cattle; particularly over a long distance.
  • To finish (stone) with a drove chisel.

Origin

  • From Middle English drove, drof, draf, from Old English drāf ("action of driving; a driving out, expulsion; drove, herd, band; company, band; road along which cattle are driven"), from Proto-Germanic *draibō ("a drive, push, movement, drove"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- ("to drive, push"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ("to support"). Cognate with Scots drave, dreef, Dutch dreef ("a walkway, wide road with trees, drove"), Middle High German treip ("a drove"), Swedish drev ("a drive, drove"), Icelandic dreif ("a scattering, distribution"). More at drive.
  • From earlier drave, from Middle English drave, draf, from Old English drāf, first and third person singular indicative preterite of drīfan.

Modern English dictionary

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