delf

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*delbaną“to dig”
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*delban“to dig”
3. Old English · inherited fromdelf
4. Middle English · inherited fromdelf
5. English todaydelf

From Middle English delf, delve, dælf (“a quarry, clay pit, hole; an artificial watercourse, a canal, a ditch, a trench; a grave; a pitfall”), from Old English delf, ġedelf (“delving, digging”) and dælf (“that which is dug, delf, ditch”), from Proto-West Germanic *delban (“to dig”), from Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”). More at delve.

Words from the same roots