"filth, trash," 1922, from Yiddish drek (German dreck), from Middle High German drec, from Proto-Germanic *threkka (cognates: Old English þreax "rubbish," Old Frisian threkk), perhaps connected to Greek skatos "dung," Latin stercus "excrement," from PIE root *(s)ker- "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
