Dross

<h2 id="etymology-and-usage">Etymology and usage</h2>
<p>The term <i>dross</i> derives from the <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a> word <i>dros</i>, meaning the scum produced when smelting metals (extracting them from their ores). By the 15th century it had come to refer to rubbish in general.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> <i>Dregs</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> and the geological term <a href="/facts/Druse_(geology)/cn7fLsV5"><i>druse</i></a> are also thought to be etymologically related.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Popular non-<a href="/facts/Metalworking/eAT0Pvz2">metalworking</a> uses of the word are derogatory:
</p>
<ul><li>poorly written or plagiarized journalism - "a dross article"; "utter/complete/terrible dross" (adjective/noun), a stronger term than <i>filler</i></li>
<li>undesirable, unprofitable work - "let's hone in on the <a href="/facts/Lion%2527s_share/ExCHFEuG">lion's share</a> and outsource the dross"; synonyms: <a href="/facts/Corv%25C3%25A9e/Rl2h4KgG">corvée</a> and <a href="/facts/Drudgery/MwFhKj2S">drudgery</a> which are growing <a href="/facts/Archaism/fs11Vfza">archaisms</a> in business<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> (noun); as strong a term as <i>dogsbody work</i></li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Aluminium_alloy_inclusions/P1ge05GW">Aluminium alloy inclusions</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Slag/LD3qEAlV">Slag</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Look up <i>dross</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<ul><li><a href="https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2150">AZoM.com – Aluminium Dross Recycling</a></li>
<li>Herbert F. Lund. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=gIn8o0b6zj0C&dq=aluminium+dross++recycling&pg=PT975">The McGraw-Hill recycling handbook</a>. Chapter 37.23: <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a>: <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a> Directive Precipitates <a href="/facts/Aluminum/7wmR8jYE">Aluminum</a> "Dross" <a href="/facts/Recycling/x9X7GAzz">Recycling</a>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Landes, David S. (1969). The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge, New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. p. 91. ISBN 0-521-09418-6. <a href="0-521-09418-6" target="_blank">0-521-09418-6</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Kogel, Jessica Elzea; Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (2006), Industrial minerals & rocks: commodities, markets, and uses (7th ed.), SME, p. 1406, ISBN 978-0-87335-233-8.{{citation}}:  CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) <a href="978-0-87335-233-8" target="_blank">978-0-87335-233-8</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Dross". www.etymologyonline.com. <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dross" target="_blank">http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dross</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Dross". www.etymologyonline.com. <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dross" target="_blank">http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dross</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. W & R Chambers. 1875. p. 142. ISBN 9781402168093. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) <a href="9781402168093" target="_blank">9781402168093</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"dross" en.wiktionary.org <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dross" target="_blank">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dross</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Dross open-in-new

Dross