dretch

Etymology

Came into English via Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English dreċċan, meaning ‘to vex, irritate, trouble, torment, torture, oppress, afflict’, from Proto-West Germanic *drakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *drakjaną, meaning ‘to torment’, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrag-, *dʰragʰ-, meaning ‘to bother, torment’. It is cognate with Russian раздража́ть (razdražátʹ), meaning ‘to irritate’, and Sanskrit द्राघते (drāghate), meaning ‘to exert oneself, be tired, torment’.