dust

Meanings

Noun

• Fine particles
• The act of cleaning by dusting.
• The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
• The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
• Something worthless.
• A low or mean condition.
• cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
• A disturbance or uproar.
• A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

Verb

• To remove dust from.
• To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
• Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
• To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
• To leave; to rush off.
• To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
• To kill.

Origin

• 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, both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ("to smoke, raise dust").
• Cognate with Scots dust, dist, Dutch duist ("pollen, dust") and dons, German Dust ("dust") and Dunst, Swedish dust ("dust"), Icelandic dust ("dust"), Latin fūmus ("smoke, steam"). Also related to Swedish dun ("down, fluff"), Icelandic dúnn ("down, fluff"). See down.