Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗A mine, quarry, pit dug; ditch. · A charge representing a square sod of turf, traditionally taking the form of a simple square (e.g. in the middle of an escutcheon), although modernly sometimes represented with the grass in profile. · Alternative form of delft (“style of earthenware”).
From Middle English delf, delve, dælf (“a quarry, clay pit, hole; an artificial watercourse, a canal, a ditch, a trench; a grave; a pitfall”), from Old English delf, ġedelf (“delving, digging”) and dælf (“that which is dug, delf, ditch”), from Proto-West Germanic *delban (“to dig”), from Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”). More at delve.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "delf"
},
"expansion": "Middle English delf"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "delf"
},
"expansion": "Old English delf"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*delban",
"t": "to dig"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *delban (“to dig”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*delbaną",
"t": "to dig"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"delf",
"delf#Middle_English"
],
[
"delve",
"delve#Middle_English"
],
[
"dælf",
"dælf#Middle_English"
],
[
"delf",
"delf#Old_English"
],
[
"ġedelf",
"gedelf#Old_English"
],
[
"dælf",
"dælf#Old_English"
],
[
"*delban",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/delban"
],
[
"*delbaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/delbaną"
],
[
"delve",
"delve#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A mine, quarry, pit dug; ditch.",
"A charge representing a square sod of turf, traditionally taking the form of a simple square (e.g. in the middle of an escutcheon), although modernly sometimes represented with the grass in profile.",
"Alternative form of delft (“style of earthenware”)."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"archaic",
"dialectal",
"alt-of",
"alternative"
],
"recordId": "6b2c47f879a93a5f49ba0f8c968ae2cbacf979dba430e42cba7630e2082c76f0",
"rawRecordSha256": "7be0c3000a1f8d8b3d87b45903d4ab38eb311b3529080fd54d13412930fedaa2",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 2569397
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}