Meaning

noun a slight wetness

verb deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

verb restrain or discourage

originFrom Middle English dampen (“to stifle; suffocate”). Akin to Low German damp, Dutch damp, and German Dampf (“vapor, steam, fog”), Icelandic dampi, Swedish damm (“dust”), and to German dampf imperative of dimpfen (“to smoke”). Also Middle English dampen (“to extinguish, choke, suffocate”). Ultimately all descend from Proto-Germanic *dampaz.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0