drinkwater

Etymology

From Middle English drinkwater (attested as a nickname), equivalent to drink + water. Compare Saterland Frisian Drinkwoater (“drinkwater”), West Frisian drinkwetter (“drinkwater”), Dutch drinkwater (“drinkwater”), German Low German Drinkwater (“drinkwater”), German Trinkwasser (“drinkwater”).

adj

Small, rural, and insignificant.“And for a moment it seemed that everything would be all right, that we were traveling back in time to that idyllic farm near a drinkwater town in Iowa, back to my boyhood, and that Mina would always smile up at me from her bed.”

name

A surname transferred from the nickname.

noun

Potable water; water intended for drinking“In very dry seasons some drinkwater is brought from wells dug in the bed of the river, about half-an hour from the village.”