Meaning

verb cover completely or make imperceptible

verb get rid of as if by submerging

verb die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating

originFrom Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'.…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0