Drown
Middle English (originally northern): related to Old Norse drukkna ‘to be drowned’, also to drink.
wiktionary
From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen(“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin.
The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian [1]. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen(“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne(“to drown”)) [2]. Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) [3] that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable" [1], unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse *drunkna.
etymonline
drown (v.)
early 14c., drounen, "suffocate by immersion in water or other fluid," also intransitive, "be suffocated by immersion (etc.)," also figurative, "to overwhelm or overpower by rising above as a flood," perhaps from an unrecorded variant of Old English druncnian (Middle English druncnen) "be swallowed up by water" (originally of ships as well as living things); at any rate it is probably from the base of drincan "to drink" (see drink (v.) and compare drench).
Or perhaps it is from Old Norse drukna "be drowned," which has at least influenced the modern form of the word, via North of England dialect. Related: Drowned; drowning. To drown (someone or something) out formerly was "to force to come out by influx of water;" in reference to sounds, by 1884.
