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Origin and history of drone

drone(n.)

Middle English drane, drone, "male honeybee," from Old English dran, dræn, from Proto-Germanic *dran- (source also of Middle Dutch drane; Old High German treno; German Drohne, which is from Middle Low German drone), probably imitative (compare Lithuanian tranni, Greek thronax "a drone"). Given a figurative sense of "idler, lazy worker" (male bees make no honey) 1520s. Meaning "pilotless aircraft directed by remote control" is from 1946.

Drones, as the radio-controlled craft are called, have many potentialities, civilian and military. Some day huge mother ships may guide fleets of long-distance, cargo-carrying airplanes across continents and oceans. Long-range drones armed with atomic bombs could be flown by accompanying mother ships to their targets and in for perfect hits. [Popular Science, November 1946]

Meaning "a deep, continuous humming sound" is from c. 1500, apparently an independent imitative formation (compare threnody). Meaning "bass pipe of a bagpipe" is from 1590s.

drone(v.)

mid-14c., drounen, "to roar, bellow;" c. 1500, "to give forth a monotonous and unvaried tone, hum, or buzz," imitative (see drone (n.)). In modern times it often is the characteristic sound of airplane engines. Meaning "speak in a dull, monotonous tone" is from 1610s. Related: Droned; droning. 

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to drone

threnody(n.)

"song of lamentation," 1630s, from Greek thrēnōdia "lamentation," from thrēnos "dirge, lament" + ōidē "ode" (see ode).

According to Watkins, Greek thrēnos probably is from PIE imitative root *dher- (3) "to drone, murmur, hum;" source also of Old English dran "drone," Gothic drunjus "sound," Greek tenthrene "a kind of wasp." According to Beekes, the Greek words are related but those in other languages are likely separate onomatopoeic formations. 

Related: Threnodic; threnodical. Middle English had it as trene, threne "lamentation, dirge" (late 14c.), especially Threnes "Lamentations," in the Bible, from Medieval Latin trenus, variant of Latin threnus.

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    monotone
    "unvarying tone in music or speaking, utterance at one unvaried pitch," 1640s; see monotony. OED says use of the word as a noun is peculiar to English. Monotone is a natural device for increasing the sonority of the voice, so that it may readily fill a large space, and is also t
    trailer
    1580s, "hound or huntsman that follows a trail," agent noun from trail (v.). From 1610s as "something that trails." By 1890 as "vehicle pulled by another;" originally a small carriage drawn along by a bicycle. The meaning "advertisement run alongside a motion picture" is attested
    poke
    "to push or thrust against, to prod," especially with something long or pointed, c. 1300, puken, poken "to poke, nudge," a word of obscure origin, perhaps from or related to Middle Dutch poken "to poke" (Dutch beuken), or Middle Low German poken "to stick with a knife" (compare G
    burden
    1590s, originally "bass accompaniment to music" (late 14c.), from Old French bordon (Modern French bourdon) "bumble-bee, drone...," or directly from Medieval Latin burdonom "drone, drone bass" (source also of Spanish bordon, Portuguese bordão, Italian...
    loll
    Lollpoop "A lazy, idle drone" ("Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue") is from 1660s....
    boom
    mid-15c., bomben, bummyn, "buzz, hum, drone, make a deep, hollow, continuous sound" (earliest use was in reference to bees...
    wasp
    *wopsa-/*wospa- "wasp" (source also of Latin vespa, Lithuanian vapsa, Old Church Slavonic vosa "wasp," Old Irish foich "drone...
    mouth
    Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," from Proto-Germanic *muntha- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian muth, Old Norse munnr, Danish mund, Middle Dutch mont, Dutch mond, Old High German mund, German Mund, Gothic munþs "mouth"),
    speak
    Middle English speken, from Old English specan, variant of sprecan "to utter words articulately without singing, have or use the power of speech; make a speech; hold discourse" with others (class V strong verb; past tense spræc, past participle sprecen), from Proto-Germanic *spre
    modulation
    late 14c., modulacioun, "act of singing or making music, harmony," from Old French modulation "act of making music" (14c.) and directly from Latin modulationem (nominative modulatio) "rhythmical measure, singing and playing, melody," noun of action from past-participle stem of mo

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