Word: drone Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English drane, dron, drone, from Old English drān, drǣn, from Proto-West Germanic *drānu, from Proto-Germanic *drenô, *drēnuz (“drone”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreh₁n- (“bee, drone, hornet”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Droane (“drone”), Dutch dar (“drone”), German Drohne (“drone”), Limburgish dreen, Droon (“drone”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk drone (“drone”), Swedish drönare (“drone”); also Belarusian тру́цень (trúcjenʹ, “drone”), Bulgarian търтей (tǎrtej, “drone”), Czech trubec (“drone”), Macedonian трут (trut, “drone”), Polish trąd, trut, truteń (“drone”), Russian and Ukrainian тру́тень (trútenʹ, “drone”), Serbo-Croatian тру̑т, trȗt (“drone”), Slovak trúd (“drone”), Slovene trot (“drone”). The etymology of the sense of "remote-controlled aircraft" is disputed; theories include early military UAVs dumbly flying on preset paths. Pronunciation: /dɹəʊn/, /dɹoʊn/ 1. A male ant, bee, or wasp, which does not work but can fertilize the queen. Example: All with united force combine to drive / The lazy drones from the laborious hive. 2. One who does not work; a lazy person, an idler. Labels: archaic Example: SHYLOCK: / The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, / Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day / More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me; / Therefore I part with him; and part with him / To one what I would have him help to waste / His borrowed purse. […] Example: he that gathereth not every day as much as I doe, the next day shall be set beyond the river, and be banished from the Fort as a drone, till he amend his conditions or starve. 3. One who performs menial or tedious work. 4. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space. Example: aerial drones Example: sea drones 5. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space. Example: Near-synonyms: UAV, UAS, OPV, RPV, FPV Example: Several images of the compound were obtained via a drone overflight. 6. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space. Example: Near-synonyms: ROV, ROUV, UUV, AUV Example: The Apex boat is a small radio-controlled craft which tows, at an angle, two Drone boats. The latter are small craft filled with explosives to be detonated from the control radio of the Apex boat. 7. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space. Example: Near-synonyms: USV (remotely operated), ASV (autonomous) 8. Any remotely operated or autonomous vehicle for land, sea, air, or space. 9. A Toyota HiAce or a similar van, especially one used by Ugandan state agents to kidnap opposition members. Labels: Uganda Example: The van is locally referred to as "a drone" because it is compact and stable under extreme conditions. It is also very fast. Technically though, it is a Toyota Hiace, which is usually used for commercial purposes. Example: He has been arrested several times, transported in drone vans and brutalized in various detention facilities. 10. One who lacks the ability to think critically and independently, especially one who follows a group blindly; a non-player character. Labels: derogatory, slang Example: The billionaire-friendly media drones and frenzied multiculturalist politicians are imposing "vibrant" third world social violence onto Australians, and Australians don't get to vote against this "bipartisan" conspiracy. The hyperactive globalist politicians and media drones might find themselves facing firing squads if they don't change their corrupt ways. Example: Instead, you got into lockstep with all the other hive-mind libtard drones and voted for the slimy corrupt scumbag bitch who was under *two* active Congressional investigations (a first in history, BTW), Hitlery Clinton. 11. In dronification kink, one who is mindless and obedient to a dominant, characterized by a detached and robotic identity and an anonymous appearance, typically composed of a latex suit and gas mask.