drumsladen.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Probably < one or more words in continental Germanic languages, although all of these appear to be first attested later than the English word; compare: Dutch tromslag (1580 as †tromslach , †tromslagh ; now literary), trommelslag (1588 in Kiliaan as †trommelslach ; now the usual word), both in sense ‘drumbeat’, early modern German drummenschlag drumbeat (1619 in an ode by the Swabian poet Weckherlin; with the voicing of the initial consonant, compare discussion at drum n.¹), trommelschlag (1623 in sense ‘public announcement accompanied by a drumbeat’, 1656 in sense ‘drumbeat’; German Trommelschlag ), trommschlag drumbeat (1650), all < the respective nouns for ‘drum’ (see drum n.¹) + the respective nouns for ‘beat, action of beating’ (see slay n.¹). The transfer of meaning, from the sound to either the instrument or the person playing it, appears to have taken place within English. The variety of forms appears to reflect a lack of familiarity with the word, which was clearly perceived as foreign. With the initial d (rather than t ), compare discussion at drum n.¹ Some of the β. forms may reflect alteration by association of the ending with -et suffix¹, while the form drumslate may result from association with slate n.¹ Compare later drum n.¹, and (with sense 1) later drumsler n., and see discussion at those entries.Compare Swedish †trummeslag (1624), trumslag (1671). No parallel formation appears to be attested in Middle Low German, although compare trummensleger person who plays the drum (1567: see drumsler n.).