Etymology

dell

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Today it means: A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow. Full definition →

Middle English delle ← Old English dell ← Proto-West Germanic *dalljā
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dell · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*daljō
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*dalljā
  3. Old English · inherited fromdell“small dale”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromdelle
  5. English todaydell

From Middle English delle, del, from Old English dell (“small dale”), from Proto-West Germanic *dalljā, from Proto-Germanic *daljō. Cognate to Proto-Slavic *dolъ (“below, down; valley, pit”), Welsh dôl (“meadow, dale”) and English dale.

dell · noun2

Origin obscure. Originally thieves' cant. Possibly from dell (valley). Compare Dutch del (“trollop, floozie”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.