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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL4 source sections across 2 headwords matching “Down”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
DownEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
From Irish dún (“fortress, stronghold”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗downEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
Etymology tree Old English of- Proto-Germanic *dūnaz? Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós? Proto-Celtic *dūnomder.? Proto-West Germanic *dūnā Old English dūne Old English ofdūne Old English adūne Old English dūne Middle English doun English down From Middle English doun, doune (“down”), from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Old Frisian dene (“down”, adverb, literally “(to the) floor”), Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”), West Frisian del (“down”). Cognate with Scots doon (“down”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗downEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *dūnaz? Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós? Proto-Celtic *dūnomder.? Proto-West Germanic *dūnā Old English dūn Middle English doune English down From Middle English doune, from Old English dūn, from Proto-West Germanic *dūn (“sandhill, dune”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz, *dūnǭ (“pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze, dust”). Alternatively, perhaps borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“hill; hillfort”) (compare Welsh din (“city, fort, stronghold”), Irish dún (“hill, fort”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to finish, come full circle”). Cognate with West Frisian dún (“dune, sandhill”), Dutch duin (“dune, sandhill”), German Düne (“dune”). More at town; akin to dune. Doublet of Down.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗downEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂nós Proto-Germanic *dūnaz Old Norse dúnnbor. Middle English doun English down From Middle English doun, from Old Norse dúnn, from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“down”), which is related to *dauniz (“(pleasant) smell”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰowh₂-nis, from the root *dʰewh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Duune (“fluff, down”), German Daune (“down”) and Danish dun (“down”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
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Chambers (1908)
1908- DownEnglish · e-37683-8494
Down, down, n. the soft hair under the feathers of fowls: the hairy covering of the seeds of certain plants: anything which soothes or invites to repose.—n. Down′-bed.—p.adj. Downed, filled or covered with down.—ns. Down
Read the full source record → - DownEnglish · e-37683-8495
Down, down, n. a bank of sand thrown up by the sea (same as Dune): a treeless land: (pl.) a tract of hilly land, used for pasturing sheep, as the North Downs (Kent) and South Downs (Sussex)—also given to the famous roads
Read the full source record → - DownEnglish · e-37683-8496
Down, down, adv. from a higher to a lower position: on the ground: from earlier to later times: from thick to thin, from large to small (to boil down, to cut down): from more to less (to beat down a price).—prep. along a
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