Waste material or impurities left behind during metalworking, or anything considered worthless or inferior.
From Old English 'dros,' related to Old Norse 'dros' (dregs), originally describing scum left in metal refining, then generalized to mean 'garbage' or 'rubbish.'
Shakespeare used 'dross' to describe fake people and worthless values—it's a perfect metaphor because just like metalworkers had to burn away impurities to find gold, humans must identify what truly matters!
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