dreg

Meaning

1. Sediment in a liquid.
2. The lowest and most worthless part of something; scum.

Synonyms

lees

sediment

residue

grounds

mud

remnant

riff-raff

settling

settlings

sludge

dregs

virga

faeces

fouling

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɹɛɡ/

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse dregg (“sediment”), from Proto-Germanic *dragjō (whence also Icelandic dregg, Swedish drägg), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“sediment”); see also Latin fraces (“lees of oil”), Albanian ndrag (“to make dirty, foul”), dra (“sediments of dairy products or liquids”).