Etymology
The word 'drone' comes from the Old English 'dran or dræn' meaning 'male honeybee' which probably originated as an onomatopoeia. In the 16th century it was given the figurative sense of 'idler' or 'lazy worker', as male bees make no honey, which is sometimes given as a folk etymology of the word 'drone' itself.
Alongside 'dran', Old English also used the word 'dore' for male bees, but its meaning was broader, as is seen in 'dumbledore', meaning bumblebee. 'Dore' survives in Dutch as 'dar', meaning 'drone'.
Read more about this topic: Drone (bee)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)