The term ''dross'' derives from the Old English word ''dros'', meaning the scum produced when smelting metals. By the 15th century it had come to refer to rubbish in general. Dregs and the geological term ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druse_(geology) druse]'' are also thought to be etymologically related. Metallurgical dross is referenced as a [[metaphor]] for worthless [[material]] in the [[Bible]] and in other religious [[texts]]. | The term ''dross'' derives from the Old English word ''dros'', meaning the scum produced when smelting metals. By the 15th century it had come to refer to rubbish in general. Dregs and the geological term ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druse_(geology) druse]'' are also thought to be etymologically related. Metallurgical dross is referenced as a [[metaphor]] for worthless [[material]] in the [[Bible]] and in other religious [[texts]]. |