## Etymology
From Middle English derth, from Old English *dīerþu ('costliness, scarcity'), an abstract noun from dēore ('dear, costly') plus the suffix -þ. The notion is that scarce things become dear (expensive).

## AI Etymology
Dearth is from Middle English derth, from Old English *dīerþu ('costliness, scarcity'), an abstract noun from dēore ('dear, costly') plus the suffix -þ. The notion is that scarce things become dear (expensive). Important recorded forms include dēore (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a scarcity or lack of something. The wider family includes related words such as dear.

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