*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of deep

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *deupaz Proto-West Germanic *deup Old English dēop Middle English dep English deep From Middle English dep, deep, depe, from Old English dēop (“deep, profoun

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 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.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

The deep part of a lake, sea or ocean. · The sea, the ocean. · A deep hole or pit, a water well; an abyss. · A deep or innermost part of something in general.

adj

Extending far down from the top, or surface, to the bottom, literally or figuratively. · Positioned far from the surface or other reference point, especially down through something or into something. · Positioned far from the boundaries of or main approaches to (the specified place); interior. · Far in extent in another (non-downwards, but generally also non-upwards) direction, especially front-to-back.

adv

Far, especially far down through something or into something, physically or figuratively. · In a profound, not superficial, manner. · In large volume. · Back towards one's own goal, baseline, or similar.

verb

To overthink; to treat as being deeper (“more profound, significant”) than in reality. · To think about, especially deeply (“profoundly”); to consider.

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

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *deupaz Proto-West Germanic *deup Old English dēop Middle English dep English deep From Middle English dep, deep, depe, from Old English dēop (“deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great”), from Proto-West Germanic *deup, from Proto-Germanic *deupaz (“deep”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”). Cognates Cognate with Scots depe (“deep”), North Frisian diip, jip (“deep”), Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”), West Frisian djip (“deep”), Dutch diep (“deep”), Low German deep (“deep”), Luxembourgish déif (“deep”), Central Franconian deep, deef (“deep”), German tief (“deep”), Alemannic German tüüf (“deep”), Mòcheno tiaf (“deep”), Vilamovian tif, tīf, tiif (“deep”), Yiddish טיף (tif, “deep”), Danish dyb (“deep”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish djup (“deep”), Scanian djyber (“deep”), Norwegian Bokmål djup, dyp (“deep”), Faroese and Icelandic djúpur (“deep”), Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃 (diups, “deep”), Lithuanian dubùs (“deep, hollow”), Albanian det (“sea”), Welsh dwfn (“deep”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Root classification mention*dʰewbʰ-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentiondepenm
  • Inherited-form mentiondēopang · deep, profound; awful, mysterious; heinous; serious, solemn, earnest; extreme, great
  • Inherited-form mention*deupgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*deupazgem-pro · deep
  • Derivation mention*dʰewbʰ-ine-pro · deep
  • Cognate mentiondepesco · deep
  • Cognate mentiondiipfrr
  • Cognate mentiondjoopstq · deep
  • Cognate mentiondjipfy · deep
  • Cognate mentiondiepnl · deep
  • Cognate mentiondeepnds · deep
  • Cognate mentiondéiflb · deep
  • Cognate mentiondeepgmw-cfr
  • Cognate mentiontiefde · deep
  • Cognate mentiontüüfgsw · deep
  • Cognate mentiontiafmhn · deep
  • Cognate mentiontifwym
  • Cognate mentionטיףyi · deep
  • Cognate mentiondybda · deep
  • Cognate mentiondjybergmq-scy · deep
  • Cognate mentiondjupnb
  • Cognate mention𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃got · deep
  • Cognate mentiondubùslt · deep, hollow
  • Cognate mentiondetsq · sea
  • Cognate mentiondwfncy · deep

This page abbreviates 22 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian djoop (“deep”)"
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      },
      "expansion": "Luxembourgish déif (“deep”)"
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      "name": "cog",
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      "expansion": "Central Franconian deep"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
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        "1": "de",
        "2": "tief",
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      "expansion": "German tief (“deep”)"
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      "name": "cog",
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        "2": "tüüf",
        "t": "deep"
      },
      "expansion": "Alemannic German tüüf (“deep”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
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        "2": "tiaf",
        "t": "deep"
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      "expansion": "Mòcheno tiaf (“deep”)"
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      "expansion": "Vilamovian tif"
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      "name": "cog",
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        "2": "טיף",
        "t": "deep"
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      "expansion": "Yiddish טיף (tif, “deep”)"
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      "name": "cog",
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        "1": "da",
        "2": "dyb",
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      "expansion": "Danish dyb (“deep”)"
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      "name": "cog",
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      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish djup (“deep”)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
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        "1": "gmq-scy",
        "2": "djyber",
        "t": "deep"
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      "expansion": "Scanian djyber (“deep”)"
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "djup"
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      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål djup"
    },
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      "args": {
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        "2": "djúpur",
        "t": "deep"
      },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
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        "t": "sea"
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      "expansion": "Albanian det (“sea”)"
    },
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      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "dwfn",
        "t": "deep"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh dwfn (“deep”)"
    },
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      "*dʰewbʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewbʰ-"
    ],
    [
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/deupaz"
    ],
    [
      "*deup",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/deup"
    ],
    [
      "dēop",
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    ],
    [
      "dep",
      "dep#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dep",
      "dep#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "deep",
      "deep#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "depe",
      "depe#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "dēop",
      "deop#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*deup",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/deup"
    ],
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      "*deupaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/deupaz"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰewbʰ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewbʰ-"
    ],
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      "depe",
      "depe#Scots"
    ],
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      "diip",
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    ],
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      "jip",
      "jip#North_Frisian"
    ],
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      "djoop",
      "djoop#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "djip",
      "djip#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "diep",
      "diep#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "deep",
      "deep#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "déif",
      "déif#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "deep",
      "deep#Central_Franconian"
    ],
    [
      "deef",
      "deef#Central_Franconian"
    ],
    [
      "tief",
      "tief#German"
    ],
    [
      "tüüf",
      "tüüf#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "tiaf",
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    ],
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      "tif",
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    ],
    [
      "tīf",
      "tīf#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "tiif",
      "tiif#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "טיף",
      "טיף#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "dyb",
      "dyb#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "djup#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "djup",
      "djup#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "djyber",
      "djyber#Scanian"
    ],
    [
      "djup",
      "djup#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "dyp",
      "dyp#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "djúpur#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "djúpur",
      "djúpur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃",
      "𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "dubùs",
      "dubus#Lithuanian"
    ],
    [
      "det",
      "det#Albanian"
    ],
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      "dwfn",
      "dwfn#Welsh"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The deep part of a lake, sea or ocean.",
        "The sea, the ocean.",
        "A deep hole or pit, a water well; an abyss.",
        "A deep or innermost part of something in general."
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    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Extending far down from the top, or surface, to the bottom, literally or figuratively.",
        "Positioned far from the surface or other reference point, especially down through something or into something.",
        "Positioned far from the boundaries of or main approaches to (the specified place); interior.",
        "Far in extent in another (non-downwards, but generally also non-upwards) direction, especially front-to-back."
      ],
      "tags": [
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    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "Far, especially far down through something or into something, physically or figuratively.",
        "In a profound, not superficial, manner.",
        "In large volume.",
        "Back towards one's own goal, baseline, or similar."
      ],
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    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To overthink; to treat as being deeper (“more profound, significant”) than in reality.",
        "To think about, especially deeply (“profoundly”); to consider."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "slang",
        "transitive"
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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 deep →

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
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Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZGVlcA