Meaning

noun fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air

noun the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

noun free microscopic particles of solid material

originFrom Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0