dreichとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

The adjective is borrowed from Scots dreich (“hard to bear, dreary, tedious, wearisome; interminable, long-winded; dull, uninteresting; slow, tardy; doleful, gloomy; baffling, difficult; difficult to reach, inaccessible”), from 中期英語 dregh, dri, drie (“burdensome; depressing, dismal; large, tall; lasting, long; long-suffering, patient; tedious; of blows: hard, heavy; of the face: unchanging, unmoved; of a person: strong, valorous”) [and other forms], from 古期英語 *drēog, drēoh (“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly:

• shortened from 古期英語 ġedrēog (“calm, quiet; sober; fit, suitable”, adjective), from ġe- (prefix forming adjectives of association or similarity) + Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (“enduring, lasting”) (from *dreuganą (“to serve, be a retainer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to serve one’s tribe; loyal”)); and
• influenced by Old Norse drjúgr (“sufficient; excessive, very; great; strong”), from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (see above).

The noun is probably partly derived:

• from the adjective; and
• borrowed from Scots dreich (“dreariness, gloom”) (rare), probably from 中期英語 dri, drie (“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”) [and other forms], possibly from dri, drie (adjective) (see above).

(Compare 古期英語 ġedrēog (“seemliness; seriousness, sobriety; something appropriate or required”, noun), which did not survive into 中期英語.)

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /dɹiːk/, /dɹiːx/
• (General American) IPA: /dɹik/
• (Scotland) IPA: /drix/
• (Ireland) IPA: /ðreː/, /driːx/
• 韻: -iːk, -iːx

形容詞

dreich (comparative dreicher, superlative dreichest) (Northern England, North Midlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland)

1. Extending for a long distance or time, especially when tedious or wearisome; long-drawn-out, protracted; also, of speech or writing: unnecessarily verbose; long-winded.

   (long-winded): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:verbose

   (long-winded): Antonyms: see Thesaurus:concise

   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Epilude: The Unfurrowed Field”, in Ian Campbell, editor, Sunset Song: A Novel (A Scots Quair; 1), Edinburgh: Polygon, Birlinn, published 2006, →ISBN, page 234:

     So Alec showed her the letter, 'twas long and dreich and went on and on; […]

2. Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boring

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:exciting

   • 1786, Robert Burns, “The Auld Farmer’s New-year Morning Salutation to His Auld Mare, Maggie, on Giving Her the Accustomed Ripp of Corn to Hansel in the New-year”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 198:

     VVhen thou an' I vvere young an' ſkiegh, / An' ſtable-meals at Fairs vvere driegh, / Hovv thou vvad prance, an' ſnore, an' ſkriegh, / An' tak the road!

   • 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Cluny’s Cage”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 225:

     ["]My life is a bit driegh," says he, pouring out the brandy; "I see little company, and sit and twirl my thumbs, and mind upon a great day that is gone by, and weary for another great day that we all hope will be upon the road. And so here's a toast to ye: The Restoration!"

3. Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cheerless

   • 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “Wedding Raiment”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 278:

     But he's lying i' such dree poverty,—and niver a friend to go near him,—niver a person to speak a kind word t' him.

   • 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Summary of Events (continued)”, in The Master of Ballantrae. […], London, Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, page 22:

     Aweel, Wully was an unco praying kind o' man; a dreigh body, nane o' my kind, I never could abide the sight o' him; […]

   • [1917, John Buchan, “[Theocritus in Scots.] The Kirn (Idyll vii).”, in Poems: Scots and English (in Scots), London; Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, →OCLC, book I (Scots), page 38:

     The dreichest saul could see he had sunlicht in his ee, / And there's no his marrow left in the toun.

     The most cheerless soul could see he had sunlight in his eye, / And there's none his equal left in the town.]

   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Epilude: The Unfurrowed Field”, in Ian Campbell, editor, Sunset Song: A Novel (A Scots Quair; 1), Edinburgh: Polygon, Birlinn, published 2006, →ISBN, page 235:

     It looked a dreich, cold place as you rode by at night, near as lonesome as the old Mill was, and not near as handy.

   • 1941 January, C[uthbert] Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:

     There are many other species of Scottish station, from geranium-hung coastal termini to dreich places in the Black Country, but a concluding note must be reached, and it shall concern Glasgow.

   • 2004 June 3, Susan Hill, chapter 1, in The Various Haunts of Men (A Simon Serrailler Crime Novel), London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 4:

     Angela Randall was not afraid of the dark, but driving home at this dreich hour and at the end of a difficult shift, she found the ectoplasmic fog unnerving.

   • 2020 February 11, Douglas Stuart, chapter 25, in Shuggie Bain, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 336:

     On dreich days Shuggie would take Agnes's wedding album and hide at the foot of her bed poring over the photos of his father.

4. suitably serious or solemn
5. of a person: patient, stoic, tolerant, resolute
6. Slow, sluggish; specifically, of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate (especially when paying for something).

   Synonyms: dilatory, tardy; see also Thesaurus:slow

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:speedy

   • 1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 88:

     What think ye o' yon bonny hill yonder, lifting its brow to the moon? […] [M]aybe we will win there the night yet, God sain us, though our minny [a horse] here's rather driegh in the upgang.

   • 1914, Neil Munro, “A Call to the North”, in The New Road, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 53:

     I have the bills o' men like Keppoch and Glengarry flourishing about the Lowlands in the place o' paper money; they're aye gettin' a' the dreicher at the payin', but whatever comes o't I have got them in my grasp.

7. Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen.
   • 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 114:

     There they are that were capering on their prancing nags four days since, and they are now ganging as driegh and sober as oursells the day.

8. Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate.

   Synonyms: burdensome, taxing, toilsome

   • [1934], Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Forsaken”, in Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Hugh MacDiarmid [pseudonym; Christopher Murray Grieve], Scottish Scene or The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Albyn, London; Melbourne: National Book Association; Hutchinson & Co., →OCLC, 4th section, page 149:

     Right above your head some thing towered up with branching arms in the flow of the lights; and you saw that it was a cross of stone, overlaid with curlecues, strange, dreich signs, like the banners of the Roman robbers of men whom you'd preached against in Zion last night.

9. Chiefly of rain: without pause or stop; continuous, incessant.

   Synonyms: persistent, sustained, unceasing, unending, unremitting; see also Thesaurus:continuous

   • a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Hay Hut among the Mountains”, in Warren Roberts, Harry T. Moore, editors, Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished, and Other Prose Works by D. H. Lawrence […], Viking Compass edition, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published 1970, →ISBN, part I (Stories and Sketches), page 43:

     So, after two hours' running downhill, we came out in the level valley at Glashütte. It was raining now, a thick dree rain.

10. Of weather: dreary, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.).
    • 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “The Engagement”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 40:

      To be sure, t' winter's been a dree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.

    • 1969, George Mackay Brown, “Rackwick”, in An Orkney Tapestry, London: Victor Gollancz, →OCLC, page 40:

      Days are dreicher than January. / A dead lamb is dropped in the thaw. / Yet now we are glad / For all things turn to the sun.

    • 1992, Ian Rankin, “Up the River”, in Strip Jack (A Thomas Dunne Book), 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 97:

      Burglary with violent assault: just the thing for a dreich Thursday morning.

    • 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is Best in the Highlands”, in Rail, number 997, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 39:

      Up here, it’s a ‘dreich’ day with steady drizzle. Deep drainage channels either side of the track are already more like streams: Rannoch Moor is a wet place.

11. (obsolete)
    1. Of a person: negotiating forcefully; driving a hard bargain.
    2. Of a place (especially a hill or mountain): difficult to get through or reach; inaccessible.

別の表記

• dree, dreigh
• dreegh (Scotland)

派生語

• dree (adverb)
• dreichly

名詞

dreich (countable and uncountable, plural dreiches)

1. (countable, Northern England, North Midlands) A tedious or troublesome task; also, the most tedious or troublesome part of a task.
2. (uncountable, Scotland) Bleakness, gloom; specifically, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.) weather.

参照

Further reading

• Joseph Wright, editor (1900), “DREE, adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume II (D–G), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 166–167.

アナグラム

• chider, herdic, riched