Verb
(third-person singular simple present derves, present participle derving, simple past and past participle derved)
Origin
From Middle English derven, from Old English deorfan (“to exert oneself, labor; be in peril, perish, be wrecked”), from Proto-Germanic *derbaną (“to swink, labour, perish”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerbʰ- (“to work, perish, die”). Cognate with Dutch bederven, verderven (“to spoil, corrupt, pervert”), German verderben (“to ruin, spoil, corrupt”), Icelandic fordjarfa (“to disgrace”), Lithuanian dìrbti (“to work”).
