dreg

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small amount of sediment or residue left at the bottom of a liquid

   A bitter dreg of coffee remained at the bottom of the cup.

2. 2
   noun

   usually in the plural, the least valuable or most undesirable remaining part of something

   The essay examined people whom their society had dismissed as its dregs.

From Old Norse dregg ("sediment"), from a Proto-Germanic word for material drawn or left behind. Cognates include Icelandic dregg and Swedish dragg. The literal sense of residue in a liquid developed the figurative, usually plural use for the least valued remnants of a group or thing.

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