Dictionary

driftwood en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈdɹɪftwʊd/

Etymology

Etymology tree English drift Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)wéydʰ(h₁)us Proto-Germanic *widuz Proto-West Germanic *widu Old English widu Old English wudu Middle English wode English wood English driftwood From drift + wood.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Floating wood that drifts with the current of a body of water.
   • A person walks near driftwood and storm debris that washed up in front of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park. 2023 January 16, “California’s flooding, in pictures”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2023:
   • Every wave on the Atlantic was like a dead seagull dragging its driftwood artillery from horizon to horizon. 1967, Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America:
2. (uncountable, usually) Such a piece of wood that has been cast ashore.
   • We lit a driftwood fire to help keep the mosquitoes away. It was partially successful. 1941 March 12, Charles A. Lindbergh, The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1970, page 461:
   • A few unreliable-looking boats were beached there, unpainted boats built largely of gray driftwood, or so it seemed to me. 1987, Gene Wolfe, chapter LI, in The Urth of the New Sun, 1st US edition, New York: Tor Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 309:
   • Commonly the bear makes a stand in driftwood on a bank, or on a log that has fallen into or across a stream. 1915 April 14, Enos A. Mills, The Rocky Mountain Wonderland, Houghton Mifflin, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 198–199:

Forms

Deriveds

driftwood catfish

Relateds

jetsam · flotsam

Translations (36)

ga adhmad raice (floating piece(s) of wood) · fi ajopuu (wood that has been cast ashore) · no rekved (floating piece(s) of wood) · kw dryftbren (wood that has been cast ashore) · ro răgălie (floating piece(s) of wood) · mi punipuni (wood that has been cast ashore) · kw dryftbren (floating piece(s) of wood) · fo rekaviður (floating piece(s) of wood) · cy gyrgoed (wood that has been cast ashore) · sv drivved (floating piece(s) of wood) · fi ajopuu (floating piece(s) of wood) · nl drijfhout (floating piece(s) of wood) · cy broc môr (floating piece(s) of wood) · mi tāwhaowhao (wood that has been cast ashore) · mi porotāwhao (wood that has been cast ashore) · tr yalos (wood that has been cast ashore) · de Treibholz (wood that has been cast ashore) · ru плавник (floating piece(s) of wood) · da drivtømmer (wood that has been cast ashore) · is rekaviður (floating piece(s) of wood) · mi pakawai (wood that has been cast ashore) · ga adhmad raice (wood that has been cast ashore) · cy broc môr (wood that has been cast ashore) · mi paewai (floating piece(s) of wood) · de Treibholz (floating piece(s) of wood) · fo rekaviður (wood that has been cast ashore) · mi pūwai (wood that has been cast ashore) · mi paewai (wood that has been cast ashore) · mi tītītai (wood that has been cast ashore) · ru плавник (wood that has been cast ashore) · sv drivved (wood that has been cast ashore) · no drivved (floating piece(s) of wood) · fr bois flotté (floating piece(s) of wood) · mkj koahpehpe (floating piece(s) of wood) · ro răgălie (wood that has been cast ashore) · fr bois flotté (wood that has been cast ashore)