Etymograph

English

dell

Dell comes from Middle English delle ‘a dale or dell’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dalą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dalą‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daljō‘a dell’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dalljāreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dell‘small dale’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500delle‘a dale or dell’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1722dell

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dalą‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daljō‘a dell’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dalljāreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dell‘small dale’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500delle‘a dale or dell’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1722dell

Earliest quotation: 1722, Thomas Tickell: “In dells and dales, conceal'd from human sight.”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley, dale’

dollar, dale, tala, dalles, 16 more

Today it means

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

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *dalą / dell

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