Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way. · To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up. · To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore. · To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously.
An archeological or paleontological investigation, or the site where such an investigation is taking place. · Any act of digging to find or retrieve something. · A thrust; a poke. · A hard blow, especially (boxing) a straight left-hander delivered under the opponent's guard.
From Middle English diggen (“to dig”, 13th c.), an alteration of dīken, from Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, mound up earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn, which see for cognates. This verb is denominal from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (“pool, puddle; dyke, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”). The form with g may have been influenced by Old French *diguer, a variant of dikier, itself from the West Germanic verb above. French forms with g are attested only in the 15th c., thus 200 years later than in English. On the other hand, French has according forms also for the underlying noun (cf. digue) and the phonetic development is more plausible in French than in English.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 10 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.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*dʰeygʷ-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "diggen"
},
"expansion": "Middle English diggen"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "dīcian",
"t": "to dig a ditch, mound up earth"
},
"expansion": "Old English dīcian (“to dig a ditch, mound up earth”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*dīkōn"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *dīkōn"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*dīkaz",
"t": "pool, puddle; dyke, ditch"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (“pool, puddle; dyke, ditch”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*dʰeygʷ-",
"4": "",
"5": "to stab, dig"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stab, dig”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "",
"4": "*diguer"
},
"expansion": "Old French *diguer"
}
],
"links": [
[
"diggen",
"diggen#Middle_English"
],
[
"dīken",
"diken#Middle_English"
],
[
"dīcian",
"dician#Old_English"
],
[
"*dīkōn",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/dīkōn"
],
[
"*dīkaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/dīkaz"
],
[
"dyke",
"dyke"
],
[
"ditch",
"ditch"
],
[
"*dʰeygʷ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰeygʷ-"
],
[
"dikier",
"dikier#Old_French"
],
[
"digue",
"digue#French"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To move hard-packed earth out of the way, especially downward to make a hole with a shovel. Or to drill, or the like, through rocks, roads, or the like. More generally, to make any similar hole by moving material out of the way.",
"To get by digging; to take from the ground; often with up.",
"To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.",
"To work like a digger; to study ploddingly and laboriously."
],
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{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"An archeological or paleontological investigation, or the site where such an investigation is taking place.",
"Any act of digging to find or retrieve something.",
"A thrust; a poke.",
"A hard blow, especially (boxing) a straight left-hander delivered under the opponent's guard."
],
"tags": [
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