English word origin

Etymology of Dull

* As a German surname, from dialectal tull (“stout, corpulent”) (see the adjective doll), or a variant of Thiel. See Duell. * As a Scottish surname, it is a habitational name from Dull in Perthshire (see Etymology 2). *

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

name

A surname. of Scottish and German origin.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "German"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "tull",
      "tull#German"
    ],
    [
      "doll",
      "doll#English"
    ],
    [
      "Thiel",
      "Thiel#German"
    ],
    [
      "Duell",
      "Duell#English"
    ],
    [
      "Etymology 2",
      "Dull#Etymology 2"
    ],
    [
      "Dill",
      "Dill#English"
    ],
    [
      "Doel",
      "Doel#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A surname. of Scottish and German origin."
      ],
      "tags": [],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "b546e43c529551d5bcb1ad04e0d9513f237d047670d3ecbeeafa65fec17599ed",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 6551529
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

name

A village in Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Possibly from Pictish [Term?], cognate with Proto-Brythonic *dol (“meadow”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Cognate mention*dolcel-bry-pro · meadow

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": "+, Perth and Kinross"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xpi"
      },
      "expansion": "Pictish [Term?]"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cel-bry-pro",
        "2": "*dol",
        "t": "meadow"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Brythonic *dol (“meadow”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*dol",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Brythonic/dol"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A village in Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland."
      ],
      "tags": [],
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Dull →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-RHVsbA