English
deal
Deal comes from Middle English del ‘a part, proportion or section of something’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dailiz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dailiz‘part’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*daili‘part’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dǣl‘part’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500del‘a part’
- Englishearliest quotation 1814deal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dailiz‘part’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*daili‘part’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dǣl‘part’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500del‘a part’
- Englishearliest quotation 1814deal
Earliest quotation: 1814, Jane Austen, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton: “There is a vast deal of difference in memories,…”
Linked words
through Old English dǣl ‘part, share, portion’
Another origin of deal
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dailiz‘part, portion, deal’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dailijaną‘to divide, part, deal’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dailijan‘to divide’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dǣlan‘to divide, part’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500delen‘to assign individuals into lots or divisions’
- Englishtodaydeal
Another origin of deal
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þiljǭ‘plank, board’reconstructed
- Old Saxonc. 800–1200thili
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dele
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘plank’
- Englishtodaydeal
Today it means
noun A division, a portion, a share, a part, a piece.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *dailiz / deal