Meaning

noun a force that moves something along

noun the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane)

noun a process of linguistic change over a period of time

originFrom Middle English drift, dryft (“act of driving, drove, shower of rain or snow, impulse”), from Old English *drift (“drift”), from Proto-Germanic *driftiz (“drift”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”). Equivalent to drive + -t; cognate with North Frisian drift (“drift”), Saterland Frisian Drift (“current, flow, stream, drift”), Dutch drift (“drift, passion, urge”), German…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0