draught

English

Etymology

From Middle English draught, draght, draȝt, from Old English *dreaht, *dræht (related to dragan (“to draw, drag”)), from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz, noun form of *draganą; equivalent to draw +‎ -t.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɹɑːft/
Rhymes: -ɑːft
(US) IPA^(key): /dɹæft/
Rhymes: -æft

Audio (US): (file)
Audio (Australia): (file)
Homophone: draft
(common in the 16–18th centuries, now nonstandard) IPA^(key): /dɹɔt/^[1]^[2]

Noun

draught (countable and uncountable, plural draughts)

(British spelling) Alternative form of draft in some of its senses.
She could feel a draught where she was sitting.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke:
  […] he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nett to make a draught.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 36”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
  “Drink and pass!” he cried, handing the heavy charged flagon to the nearest seaman. “The crew alone now drink. Round with it, round! Short draughts—long swallows, men; ’tis hot as Satan’s hoof.
- 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 35”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
  Finally I gave him a draught, and he sank into uneasy slumber.
- 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter iii:
  Much as I wish that I had not to write this chapter, I know that I shall have to swallow many such bitter draughts in the course of this narrative. And I cannot do otherwise, if I claim to be a worshipper of Truth. […]
- 1946 July and August, “Notes and News: The War Effect on the Clyde Steamers”, in Railway Magazine, page 324:
  All the L.N.E.R. Clyde vessels are paddle-propelled, because of the shallow draught at Craigendoran Pier.
- 1953 November, “Notes and News: New Clothing for Tunnel Workers”, in Railway Magazine, page 783:
  A standard type of donkey jacket made of white milled flannel is being introduced by British Railways for the use of staff working in tunnels where there are conditions of extreme cold, dampness and draught.
(UK) A checker: a game piece used in the game of draughts.
(Australia) Ale: a type of beer brewed using top-fermenting yeast.
(UK, medicine, obsolete) A mild vesicatory.
(UK, obsolete) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:
  Then sayde Jesus: are ye yett withoute understondinge? perceave ye not, that whatsoever goeth in at the mouth, descendeth doune into the bely, and ys cast out into the draught?
- c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
  Rid me these Villaines from your companies; / Hang them, or stab them, drowne them in a draught, / Confound them by some course, and come to me, / Ile giue you Gold enough.
(UK, obsolete) Any picture or drawing.
- 1650, Thomas Browne, chapter V, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 22:
  And therefore, for the whole process, and full representation, there must be more than one draught; the one representing him in station, the other in session, another in genuflexion.
(UK, obsolete) A sudden attack upon an enemy.
- 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
  drawing sudden draughts upon the enemy when he looketh not for you

Synonyms

(outhouse): draught-house; see also Thesaurus:outhouse
(game piece): checker (used in checkers)

Derived terms

Related terms

draw

Translations

game piece

Bulgarian: шашки (bg) pl (šaški), пул m (pul)
Catalan: dama (ca) f
Czech: kámen (cs) m
Finnish: nappula (fi)
German: Spielstein (de) m
Greek: πούλι (el) n (poúli)
Hungarian: bábu (hu)
Ido: piono (io)
Ingrian: šaška
Irish: fear táiplise (bige) m
Italian: pedina (it) f
Māori: kai (mi), perepere
Polish: pionek (pl) m inan, pion (pl) m inan, bierka (pl) f, warcab (pl) m inan
Portuguese: peça (de damas) f
Russian: ша́шка (ru) f (šáška)
Scots: draucht
Spanish: dama (es) f
Swedish: bricka (sv)
Turkish:
Ottoman Turkish: مهره (mühre)

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

Polish: warcabowy (pl)

Adjective

draught (not comparable)

(British spelling) Alternative spelling of draft
draught beer or cider

draught oxen, a draught horse

Verb

draught (third-person singular simple present draughts, present participle draughting, simple past and past participle draughted)

(British spelling) Alternative spelling of draft.
- 1826, [Walter Scott], Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC:
  The Parliament so often draughted and drained.

Usage notes

There are senses used in American English which do not apply in British English.

References

“draught”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC..

^ “draught”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.: "in late ME. the word [draught] was sometimes drawt, whence the frequent (drǭt) in 16th-18th c. rimes"
^ “draught”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.: "A pronunciation (drɔt) is sometimes heard for draught, perhaps because -aught is frequently pronounced (-ɔt) elsewhere, as in caught and taught."

Middle English

Alternative forms

draght, draht, draucht, draughte, drauht

Etymology

From Old English dreaht, *dræht (related to dragan (“to draw, drag”)), from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz, equivalent to drawen +‎ -th.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /drau̯xt/

Noun

draught (plural draughtes)

draught

Descendants

English: draught
Scots: draucht
Yola: draught, draft

References

“draught, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Yola

Alternative forms

draft

Etymology

From Middle English draught, draght, from Old English dreaht, *dræht (related to dragan (“to draw, drag”)), from Proto-Germanic *drahtuz.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /drɑːxt/, /draft/

Noun

draught

A drawing stroke with a weapon.
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6, page 86:
  Many a bra draught by Tommeen was ee-maate;
  Many a brave stroke by Tommy was made;

References

Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 36

[1] “draught”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.: "in late ME. the word [draught] was sometimes drawt, whence the frequent (drǭt) in 16th-18th c. rimes"

[2] “draught”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.: "A pronunciation (drɔt) is sometimes heard for draught, perhaps because -aught is frequently pronounced (-ɔt) elsewhere, as in caught and taught."

[1]

[2]