English word origin

Etymology of dell

From Middle English delle, del, from Old English dell (“small dale”), from Proto-West Germanic *dalljā, from Proto-Germanic *daljō. Cognate to Proto-Slavic *dolъ (“below, down; valley, pit”), Welsh dôl (“meadow, dale”) a

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 ↗

noun

A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow.

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

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentiondelleenm
Inherited-form mentiondellang · small dale
Inherited-form mention*dalljāgmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*daljōgem-pro
Cognate mention*dolъsla-pro · below, down; valley, pit
Cognate mentiondôlcy · meadow, dale
Cognate mentiondaleen

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": "delle"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English delle"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "dell",
        "t": "small dale"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English dell (“small dale”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*dalljā"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *dalljā"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*daljō"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *daljō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sla-pro",
        "2": "*dolъ",
        "t": "below, down; valley, pit"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Slavic *dolъ (“below, down; valley, pit”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "dôl",
        "t": "meadow, dale"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh dôl (“meadow, dale”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dale"
      },
      "expansion": "English dale"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "delle",
      "delle#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "del",
      "del#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dell",
      "dell#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*dalljā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/dalljā"
    ],
    [
      "*daljō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/daljō"
    ],
    [
      "*dolъ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/dolъ"
    ],
    [
      "dôl",
      "dôl#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "dale",
      "dale#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "a19368bf1db943871c1f4bcdfcfdbbb8b7bdaabd9b8e74d61a55beb11051182a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "73fca9dbd29bf8028db40e195b9d913048df0ad6774b4b64cbc059d7cf24050d",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 195327
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

A young woman; a wench.

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

Origin obscure. Originally thieves' cant. Possibly from dell (valley). Compare Dutch del (“trollop, floozie”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Cognate mentiondelnl · trollop, floozie

Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "unk",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "Origin obscure"
      },
      "expansion": "Origin obscure"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "del",
        "t": "trollop, floozie"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch del (“trollop, floozie”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "dell",
      "dell#English"
    ],
    [
      "del",
      "del#Dutch"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A young woman; a wench."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
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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 dell →

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-ZGVsbA