- drudge (n.)
- late 15c., "one employed in mean, servile, or distasteful work," missing in Old English and Middle English (but cf. Middle English druggen "do menial or monotonous work; druggunge, mid-13c., in Barnhart), but apparently related to Old English dreogan "to work, suffer, endure" (see endure). The verb is from 1540s. Related: Drudged; drudging. The surname is from 13c., probably from Old French dragie "a mixture of grains sown together," thus, a grower of this crop.