Late 16th century; earliest use found in Richard Hakluyt (?1552–1616), geographer. From Dutch †drommelaer, †drommeler, apparently a variant or alteration of †drymmelaer kind of cargo vessel (1570; also †dremmelaer, perhaps from dremmelen to linger, dawdle + -aar, perhaps so called on account of its slow speed, although not enough of the ship's construction is known to confirm or reject this interpretation.