Other forms: draughts
Draught is how deep in the water a loaded boat sits. A shallow draught, the ship's draught, draught marks.
It decides where a vessel can go: a shallow-draught boat can work rivers and harbours that a deep-draught ship cannot enter at all. The same spelling covers a current of cold air and beer served from the cask. American English spells all of these draft. Note that the word comes from draw, and is what the hull draws.
1noundraughtHow deep in the water a loaded boat sits.
“The huge tanker has too deep a draught to enter the old harbour.”
2nouncurrentA current of cold air.
“Close the door; there's a cold draught coming in.”
Also accepted in games: draft
It is the same word as draft, and both come from draw. How deep a boat draws in the water, and the cold air drawn through a room.
hooks ontodraw
Old English dreaht is a noun from dragan, to draw. Draw, drag and draft come from the same drawing.
Proto-Indo-European
*dʰregʰ-
Proto-Germanic
*drahtuz
Old English
*dreaht
Middle English
draught
English, today
draught
Built from
From Middle English draught, draght, draȝt, from Old English dreaht, dræht (related to dragan (“to draw, drag”)), from Proto-Germanic drahtuz, noun form of draganą; equivalent to draw + t.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA