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Origin and history of *deru-

*deru-

also *dreu-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "be firm, solid, steadfast," with specialized senses "wood," "tree" and derivatives referring to objects made of wood.

It might form all or part of: betroth; Dante; dendrite; dendro-; dendrochronology; dour; Druid; drupe; dryad; dura mater; durable; durance; duration; duress; during; durum; endure; hamadryad; indurate; obdurate; perdurable; philodendron; rhododendron; shelter; tar (n.1) "viscous liquid;" tray; tree; trig (adj.) "smart, trim;" trim; troth; trough; trow; truce; true; trust; truth; tryst.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dru "tree, wood," daru "wood, log, timber;" Greek drys "oak," drymos "copse, thicket," doru "beam, shaft of a spear;" Old Church Slavonic drievo "tree, wood," Serbian drvo "tree," drva "wood," Russian drevo "tree, wood," Czech drva, Polish drwa "wood;" Lithuanian drūtas "firm," derva "pine, wood;" Welsh drud, Old Irish dron "strong," Welsh derw "true," Old Irish derb "sure," Old Irish daur, Welsh derwen "oak;" Albanian drusk "oak;" Old English treo, treow "tree," triewe "faithful, trustworthy, honest."

Entries linking to *deru-

betroth(v.)

c. 1300, betrouthen, "to promise to marry (a woman)," from be-, here probably with a sense of "thoroughly," + Middle English treowðe "truth," from Old English treowðe "truth, a pledge" (see truth and compare troth). It is attested from 1560s as "contract to give (a woman) in marriage to another, affiance." Related: Betrothed; betrothing. Middle English also had a verb truth (treuthen) "become betrothed" (c. 1300).

Dante

masc. proper name, most modern uses outside Italy ultimately are in reference to Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321), the great poet; the name is a shortening of Latin Durante, from durare "to harden, endure," from durus "hard," from PIE *dru-ro-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast." Related: Dantean, Dantescan, Dantesque (the last from French).

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drupe
"a stone-fruit," one with a fleshy or soft outer part and a hard nut or stone at the center (as a plum, cherry, apricot, or peach), 1753, from Modern Latin drupa "stone-fruit," from Latin drupa (oliva) "wrinkled olive," from Greek dryppa, short for drypepes "tree-ripened," from d
durable
late 14c., "having the quality of continuing long in being," from Old French durable (11c.) and directly from Latin durabilis "lasting, permanent," from durare "to harden," from durus "hard," from PIE *dru-ro-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast." Fro
durance
mid-15c., "duration, continuance" (a sense now obsolete; probably an abbreviated form of endurance); sense of "imprisonment, restraint of the person, involuntary confinement" is from 1510s, from Old French durance "duration," from durer "to endure," from Latin durare "to harden,"
oak
The usual Indo-European base for "oak" (*deru-) has become Modern English tree (n.)....
amethyst
violet-colored quartz, late 13c., amatist, from Old French ametiste (12c., Modern French améthyste) and directly from Medieval Latin amatistus, from Latin amethystus, from Greek amethystos "amethyst," noun use of an adjective meaning "not intoxicating; not drunken," from a- "not"
cat
Old English catt (c. 700) "domestic cat," from West Germanic (c. 400-450), from Proto-Germanic *kattuz (source also of Old Frisian katte, Old Norse köttr, Dutch kat, Old High German kazza, German Katze), from Late Latin cattus. The near-universal European word now, it appeared in
turkey
1540s, originally "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), a bird imported from Madagascar via Turkey, and called guinea fowl when brought by Portuguese traders from West Africa. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by
India
"the Indian subcontinent, central Asia south of the Himalayas," formerly sometimes used generally for "Asia;" Old English India, Indea, from Latin India, from Greek India "region of the Indus River," later used of the region beyond it, from Indos "Indus River," also "an Indian,"
real
early 14c., "actually existing, having physical existence (not imaginary);" mid-15c., "relating to things" (especially property), from Old French reel "real, actual," from Late Latin realis "actual," in Medieval Latin "belonging to the thing itself," from Latin res "property, goo
seminar
1887, "special group-study class for advanced students pursuing real research," from German Seminar "group of students working with a professor," from Latin seminarium "plant nursery, seed plot," figuratively, "breeding ground," from seminarius "of seed," from semen (genitive sem

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