dull

dull · adjective, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*dʰwel-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*dulaz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*dol
4. Old English · inherited fromdol“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”
5. Middle English · inherited fromdull
6. English todaydull

From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-West Germanic *dol, from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, from earlier *dwulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-, *dʰewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).

dull · noun, verb²

1. Irish · borrowed fromdul
2. English todaydull

Probably from Irish dul, dol (“loop, noose, snare”).

Dull · proper noun³

* As a German surname, from dialectal tull (“stout, corpulent”) (see the adjective doll), or a variant of Thiel. See Duell. * As a Scottish surname, it is a habitational name from Dull in Perthshire (see Etymology 2). * As an English surname, variant of Dill, Doel.

Dull · proper noun⁴

1. Pictish · derived from[Term?]
2. English todayDull

Possibly from Pictish [Term?], cognate with Proto-Brythonic *dol (“meadow”).

Words from the same roots