# dust
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”).
Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dʌst/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌst
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophone: dost

### Noun

dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)
* Fine particles.
** (uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
*** 2022 September 7, “East-West track laying heads westwards”, in RAIL, number 965, page 37, photo caption:There is so much dust released during the process of laying ballast that the trackside operator wears a full face mask with respirator.
** (uncountable) Any substance reduced to fine particles; powder.
** (uncountable, astronomy) Submicron particles in outer space, largely silicates and carbon compounds, that contribute greatly to extinction at visible wavelengths.
*** 2020 June 29, Paun Rincon, “Betelgeuse: Nearby ‘supernova’ star’s dimming explained”, in BBC News:Astronomers have previously considered that dust produced by the star was obscuring it, causing the steep decline in brightness.
** (uncountable, occupational health) Disintegration of a solid, like silica.
** (uncountable, Australia, slang, dated) Flour.
** (countable, obsolete) A single fine, dry particle of earth or other material; grain of dust.
*** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:to touch a dust of England’s ground
* (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
** 2010, Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England, page 150:[…] once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust, doesn’t it?
* (countable) The act of sprinkling dust, or a sprinkle of dust itself.
* (poetic) Earth, ground, soil, sediment.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXV, page 54:But I should turn mine ears and hear The moanings of the homeless sea, ⁠The sound of streams that swift or slow ⁠Draw down Æonian hills, and sow The dust of continents to be; […]
* The earth as the resting place of the dead.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 7:21:For now shall I sleep in the dust.
* The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
** 1833 (date written), Alfred Tennyson, “St. Simeon Stylites”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 62:For I will leave my relics in your land, / And you may carve a shrine about my dust, / And burn a fragrant lamp before my bones, / When I am gather’d to the glorious saints.
* (figurative) The substance of the human body or mortal frame.
* (figurative) Something worthless.
** c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.
* (figurative) A low or mean condition.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 2:8:[God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.
* (British, colloquial) Rubbish, garbage, refuse.
* (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
** 1852, George Colvocoresses, Four Years in a Government Exploring Expedition:‘And what do you ask for it?’ ‘Fifteen thousand dollars.’ ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Then down with the dust.’
* (countable) A cloud of dust.
* (countable, figurative) A tumult, disturbance, commotion, uproar.
    to raise, or kick up, a dust
* (countable, colloquial) A fight or row.
* (countable, mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
* (cryptocurrencies) Tiny amounts of cryptocurrency left over after a transaction due to rounding error.

#### Derived terms

* angel dust
* antidust
* Asian dust
* bark dust
* beat the dust
* bedust
* bite the dust
* brake dust
* bread dust
* brickdust
* bull dust, bulldust
* bust the dust
* Cantor dust
* catch dust
* chalkdust
* coaldust
* coal dust
* collect dust
* come down with one's dust
* come down with the dust
* copple dust
* cosmic dust
* cupel-dust
* dedust
* devil's dust
* dhobi dust
* diamond dust
* down with one's dust
* down with the dust
* dry as dust
* dustable
* dustbag
* dust bag
* dustball
* dustbath, dust bath
* dustbathe
* dustbin, dust bin
* dustboard
* Dust Bowl
* dustbowl, dust bowl
* dust box
* dustbox
* dust-brand
* dustbrush
* dustbug
* dust bunny
* dust buster
* dust cap
* dustcart
* dust cart
* dust cloth
* dustcloth
* dustcloud
* dustcoat
* dust-collector
* dust-colored, dust-coloured
* dust contractor
* dust cover
* dustcover
* dust devil
* dustfall
* dust filter
* dust-free, dustfree
* dusthead
* dustheap
* dust heap of history
* Dust-Hole
* dust hole, dusthole
* dust jacket
* dust kitten
* dust kitty
* dustless
* dustlike
* dustling
* dustman
* dust mask
* dustmat
* dust mite
* dustmote
* dust mouse
* dust-off
* dustout
* dust-out
* dustpan
* dustperson
* dustpile
* dustproof
* dustrag
* dust-ridden
* dust ruffle
* dust settles
* dustsheet
* dust shot
* duststorm
* dust storm
* dust trap
* dust-up
* dustwoman
* dustwrapper
* dusty
* eat my dust
* eat someone's dust
* eraser dust
* extraterrestrial dust
* fairy dust
* feather-dust
* fig-dust
* fugitive dust
* gather dust
* gold dust
* gold-dust
* goofer dust
* jack-of-the-dust
* kick up dust
* kiss the dust
* lay the dust
* leave for dust
* leave someone in the dust
* lick the dust
* magic dust
* make the dust fly
* malt dust
* microdust
* milldust
* monkey dust
* moondust
* nanodust
* nondust
* not see someone for dust
* organic dust toxic syndrome
* overdust
* pixie dust
* return to dust
* sanderdust
* sawdust
* shake off the dust from one's feet
* shake the dust from one's feet
* shake the dust from one's sandals
* sleepy dust
* sleepy-dust
* small rain lays great dust
* smart dust, smartdust
* smelter dust
* space dust
* spy dust
* stardust
* termination dust
* the dust settles
* throw dust in someone's eyes
* tobacco dust juice
* turn to dust
* van Stockum dust
* whoofle dust, woofle dust
* yarn dust
* zodiacal dust

#### Descendants

* → Russian: дуст (dust)

#### Translations

Acehnese: abee
Afrikaans: stof (af)
Akkadian: 𒅖 (epru‹m›)
Albanian: pluhur (sq) m
Arabic: غُبَار (ar) m (ḡubār)
Egyptian Arabic: تراب m (turāb)
Hijazi Arabic: غُبار m (ḡubār), تُراب m (turāb)
Moroccan Arabic: غبار (ḡbār)
Armenian: փոշի (hy) (pʻoši)
Aromanian: pulbiri f, pulbire f
Assamese: ধূলি (dhuli)
Asturian: polvu (ast) m
Azerbaijani:
Abjad: توز (tōz)
Roman: toz (az)
Baluchi: ہاک (hák)
Bashkir: саң (sañ), туҙан (tuźan)
Basque: hauts
Belarusian: пыл m (pyl), по́рах m (pórax)
Bengali: ধূলি (bn) (dhuli)
Bhojpuri: धूल (dhūl)
Bikol Central: alpog (bcl)
Breton: poultr, poultrenn (br)
Brunei Malay: abuk
Budukh: руг (rug)
Bulgarian: прах (bg) m (prah)
Burmese: ဖုန် (my) (hpun)
Buryat: тооһон (toohon)
Catalan: pols (ca) f
Cebuano: abog
Chamicuro: ijpe
Chechen: чан (čan)
Chichewa: fumbi
Chinese:
Cantonese: 灰塵 / 灰尘 (fui$^1$ can$^4$), 塵 / 尘 (can$^4$)
Dungan: чынтў (čɨntw), хуэйтў (hueytw), тонтў (tontw), тў (tw)
Mandarin: 灰 (zh) (huī), 灰塵 / 灰尘 (zh) (huīchén), 塵土 / 尘土 (zh) (chéntǔ)
Chuvash: тусан (tus̬an)
Cornish: doust
Corsican: polvara
Crimean Tatar: toz
Czech: prach (cs) m
Dalmatian: pulvro f
Danish: støv (da) n
Dutch: stof (nl) n
Eastern Bontoc: tapok
Egyptian: (ḫmw)
Erzya: пуль (puľ)
Esperanto: polvo (eo)
Estonian: tolm (et)
Evenki: на̄мнэ (nāmnə)
Ewe: fúfu m
Faroese: dust (fo) n
Finnish: pöly (fi), tomu (fi)
French: poussière (fr) f
Friulian: polvar m
Gagauz: тоз
Galician: pó (gl) m, voaxa (gl) f, foula (gl) f, purreiro m, queila f, borralla (gl) f
Georgian: მტვერი (mṭveri)
German: Staub (de) m
Gothic: 𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 f (mulda), 𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌿𐍃 m (stubjus)
Greek: σκόνη (el) f (skóni)
Ancient: κόνις f (kónis), χοῦς m (khoûs), ἴκνυς f (íknus)
Greenlandic: qasernerit
Guaraní: yvytimbo
Haitian Creole: pousyè
Hawaiian: ʻehu
Hebrew: אָבָק (he) m (avák)
Higaonon: aliyabuk
Hindi: धूल (hi) f (dhūl), धूलि (hi) f (dhūli), ख़ाक f (xāk), खाक (hi) f (khāk), धुलि (hi) f (dhuli), गर्द (hi) f (gard)
Hungarian: por (hu)
Hunsrik: Staab m
Icelandic: ryk (is) n
Ilocano: tapok
Indonesian: debu (id), duli (id)
Ingrian: pölly
Ingush: дома (doma)
Inuktitut: ᓴᓂᖅ (saniq)
Irish: deannach (ga) m, dusta m
Italian: polvere (it) f
Japanese: 埃 (ja) (ほこり, hokori), ほこり (ja) (hokori)
Javanese: awu (jv), bledug (jv), lebu (jv)
Kabardian: сабэ (kbd) (sabɛ)
Kalmyk: тоосн (toosn)
Karo Batak: abu
Kazakh: шаң (şañ)
Khakas: тозын (tozın)
Khmer: ធូលី (km) (thuulii), ក្អែល (km) (kʼael), ខ្ញម (khñɑɑm), ខ្សាច់ (km) (khsac)
Komi-Zyrian: бус (bus)
Konkani: धूळी (dhūḷī)
Korean: 먼지 (ko) (meonji), 흙 (ko) (heuk)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: toz (ku) f, xubar (ku) f
Kyrgyz: чаң (ky) (caŋ)
Lao: ຝຸ່ນ (fun), ຜົງ (phong), ທຸລີ (thu lī)
Latin: pulvis (la) m, pollen n
Latvian: puteklis, putekļi pl
Lezgi: руг (rug)
Limburgish: sjtöb n
Linngithigh: ibhi
Lithuanian: dulkės pl
Lombard: polver (lmo)
Low German: Stoff
Lubuagan Kalinga: tapok
Luxembourgish: Stëbs (lb) m
Macedonian: прав m (prav), пра́шина f (prášina)
Malagasy: jomoka (mg)
Malay:
Jawi: هابوق (ms), دبو
Rumi: habuk, debu (ms)
Maltese: trab m
Manchu: ᠪᡠᡵᠠᡴᡳ (buraki)
Manx: joan
Maori: puehu, hungahunga
Maranao: lopapek
Marathi: धूळ (dhūḷ)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: пурак f (purak)
Western Mari: пырак (pyrak)
Mirandese: polvra
Moksha: пуль (puľ)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: тоос (mn) (toos)
Mongolian: ᠲᠣᠭᠤᠰᠤ (toɣusu)
Nanai: бурэхи (burexi)
Navajo: łeezh
Neapolitan: povere m
Nepali: धुलो (dhulo)
Northern Mansi: порс (pors)
Northern Sami: gavja
Norwegian: støv (no) n, dust (no) f or n
Occitan: polvèra f
Odia: ଧୂଲା (dhulā)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: прахъ m (praxŭ)
Old East Slavic: порохъ m (poroxŭ)
Old English: dūst (ang) n
Old Khmer: ធូលី, ធុលិ
Oromo: awwaara
Oroqen: tɔ:rag
Ossetian: рыг (ryg)
Ottoman Turkish: توز (toz), تراب (türâb)
Pali: dhūli
Papiamentu: puiro
Pashto: دوڼ m (dúṇ), ږږ m (ẓǝẓ), کسيا f (kasyã)
Persian: خاک (fa) (xâk), گرد (fa) (gard), غبار (fa) (ğabâr)
Polish: kurz (pl) m, pył (pl) m, proch (pl) m (dialectal)
Portuguese: pó (pt) m, poeira (pt) f
Quechua: allpa (qu)
Rohingya: dúl
Romanian: praf (ro) n, pulbere (ro) f, colb (ro) n
Romansch: pulvra f, puolra f, polvra f, puolvra f
Russian: пыль (ru) f (pylʹ), прах (ru) m (prax) (poetic)
Sanskrit: धूलि (sa) f (dhūli), रजस् (sa) n (rájas)
Sardinian: peure, piubare, piubere, piure, prubere
Scottish Gaelic: duslach m, dust m, stùr m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: прашина f, прах m
Roman: prašina (sh) f, prah (sh) m
Sherpa: རྡུལ (rdul)
Sicilian: pruvulazzu (scn) m, pùrviri (scn)
Sidamo: buko
Sinhalese: දූවිල්ල (dūwilla)
Slovak: prach m
Slovene: prah (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: proch m
Upper Sorbian: proch m
Southern Kalinga: tapuk, kafu
Spanish: polvo (es) m
Sundanese: kekebul
Swahili: kivumbi (sw)
Swedish: damm (sv) n, stoft (sv) n
Tabasaran: руг (rug)
Tagalog: alikabok (tl), gabok
Tajik: чанг (tg) (čang), хок (tg) (xok), ғубор (ġubor)
Tatar: тузан (tuzan)
Tausug: bagunbun
Telugu: దుమ్ము (te) (dummu), ధూళి (te) (dhūḷi)
Tetum: ahun
Thai: ฝุ่น (th) (fùn), ผง (th) (pǒng), ธุลี (th) (tú-lii)
Tibetan: ཐལ་བ (thal ba), རྡུལ (rdul)
Tocharian B: spaitu, tweye
Tswana: loupa
Turkish: toz (tr)
Turkmen: çaň, toz
Tuvan: доозун (doozun)
Tuwali Ifugao: dap-ul, hupuk, tapuk
Udmurt: тузон (tuzon)
Ugaritic: 𐎓𐎔𐎗 (ʿpr)
Ukrainian: пил m (pyl), по́рох m (pórox), ку́рява f (kúrjava)
Unami: punkw
Urdu: دهول (dhūl)
Uyghur: چاڭ (chang)
Uzbek: chang (uz)
Venetan: polvare
Vietnamese: bụi (vi)
Volapük: püf (vo)
Walloon: poure (wa) f, poude (wa) f
Welsh: llwch (cy) m, pylor m, dwst m
West Frisian: stof n
White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
Yakut: быыл (bııl)
Yiddish: שטויב m (shtoyb)
Zealandic: stof m
Zhuang: hoi
Zulu: uthuli class 11/10 :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

dust (third-person singular simple present dusts, present participle dusting, simple past and past participle dusted)
* (transitive) To remove dust from.
    The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
* (intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
    Dusting always makes me cough.
* (transitive, archaic) To make dusty, to soil with dust.
* (intransitive or reflexive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
* (transitive) To spray or cover (something) with fine powder or liquid, to sprinkle.
    The mother dusted her baby’s bum with talcum powder.
* (transitive) To sprinkle (a substance) in the form of dust.
* (intransitive, chiefly US slang) To leave quickly; to rush off.
** 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 75:He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
* (transitive, obsolete) To drink up quickly; to toss off.
* (transitive, obsolete) To reduce to a fine powder; to pulverize, to levigate.
** 1667, Thomas Sprat, History of the Royal Society of London:good Powder differs from bad […] in having more Peter and less Coal; and lastly, in the well dusting of it
* (transitive, now colloquial or dialectal) To strike, beat, thrash.
* (transitive, chiefly US slang) To defeat badly, to thrash.
* (transitive, chiefly US slang) To kill.
** 1984, The Terminator, spoken by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), Los Angeles, Calif.: Orion Pictures; distributed by MGM Home Entertainment, published 1984:Kyle Reese: You have to be careful because the [Hunter-Killer robots] use infrared. They’re not too bright. John taught us ways to dust them.
* (transitive, baseball) To deliberately pitch a ball close to (a batter); to brush back.
* (cryptocurrencies) To attempt to identify the owner of (a cryptocurrency wallet) by sending tiny amounts of cryptocurrency.

#### Derived terms

* dust bunny
* dust down
* duster
* dust off
* dust out
* dust up
* dust someone's jacket
* undust
* undusted

#### Related terms

* crop-dust

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

* vacuum cleaner

### Anagrams

* UDTs, duts, stud

## Faroese
### Etymology

From Old Norse dust.

### Noun

dust n (genitive singular dusts, uncountable)
* dust

#### Declension
## Icelandic
### Etymology

From Old Norse dust.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tʏst/
* Rhymes: -ʏst

### Noun

dust n (genitive singular dusts, no plural)
* dust
    Synonyms: ryk, duft

#### Declension
## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* doust, duste, doste, dyste

### Etymology

Forms with a long vowel are from Old English dūst, from Proto-Germanic *dunstą. Forms with a short vowel are from Old English *dust, from Proto-Germanic *dustą.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dust/, /duːst/

### Noun

dust (uncountable)
* dust, powder
* dirt, grit
* (figurative) iota, modicum

#### Related terms

* dusten (rare)
* dusty

#### Descendants

* English: dust
* Scots: dust, dist

#### References

* “dū̆st, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-04.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1

Back-formation of dustet, from Old Norse dust (dust particle)

#### Noun

dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
* (derogatory) dork, moron, fool

##### Synonyms

* dustemikkel
* tomsing
* tosk
* tufs
* støv

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse dust.

#### Noun

dust f or m (definite singular dusta or dusten, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
* dust (fine, dry particles)

### References

* “dust” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology 1

From Old Norse dust (dust particle), compare with dustete.

#### Noun

dust m (definite singular dusten, indefinite plural dustar, definite plural dustane)
* (derogatory) dork, moron, fool

##### Synonyms

* dustemikkel
* tomsing
* tosk
* tufs
* støv

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse dust.

#### Noun

dust f (definite singular dusta, indefinite plural duster, definite plural dustene)
* dust (fine, dry particles)

### References

* “dust” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old English
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dunstą (“dust, vapour”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰew- (“vapour, smoke”). Akin to Hindi धुआं (dhuā̃, “smoke”), Middle Dutch dost, donst, duust (Dutch dons, duist), Old High German tunst, dunst (German Dunst), Low German dust, Icelandic dust, Norwegian dust, Danish dyst.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /duːst/

### Noun

dūst n
* dust; powder; mill dust

#### Declension

Strong a-stem:

#### Descendants

* Middle English: dust, doust
** English: dust
** Scots: dust, dist

## Old Norse
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dustą.

### Noun

dust n
* dust particle

#### Descendants

* Icelandic: dust
* Faroese: dust
* Norwegian: dust
* Swedish: dust
* Danish: dyst

### Further reading

* Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “dust”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From English dust.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /t̪us̪t̪/

### Noun

dust m (genitive singular dust, no plural)
* dust

#### Usage notes

* Also used figuratively for corpse.

#### Synonyms

* duslach
* stùr

#### Derived terms

* dustach
* dustaig
* dustair

## Swedish
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Swedish dust, duster, diost, from Middle Low German dust, diost, from Old French joste, juste, from Latin juxta. Cognate of Danish dyst, French joute.

### Noun

dust c
* a joust
* (figuratively) a (minor) verbal or physical confrontation, a bout, a tussle, a run-in

#### Declension
### References

* dust in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* dust in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* dust in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
* dust in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

## Zazaki
### Noun

dust
* side; one half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone.
* to level

#### Derived terms

* dustê
* dusta