From: Torsten
Message: 65321
Date: 2009-10-28
>Narrowing that stray thought: probably the first metaphorical use would have been for the ppp 'drunk' (in the sense "intoxicated"), literal original meaning "soaked, waterlogged" (because that's how they walk).
>
> > > > just as <drencan> (from *drankjan) means 'to cause (someone)
> > > > to drink', hence 'to drench (someone)'.
> >
> > > More likely, in my opinion, *drenk- originally meant "get
> > > soaked, waterlogged, filled with water" (cf. 'drown') and was
> > > related somehow (dialectically? ) to the *d/tran,W-
> > > "dregs"/"draw" /"drag" etc water transport word complex.
>
> > You mean "drench"
>
> No, I mean *drenk- -> drink-, of which *drank-j- -> drench- "make
> soaked, waterlogged, filled with water" is the causative. It would
> originally have been used only of objects. Its use with animals and
> people would have been metaphorical and jocular at first. Cf. also
> German trinken "drink", ertrinken "drown", saufen (partly cognate
> with Engl sip, sup) "drink", ersaufen "drown; sink".