dell

• IPA^(key): /dɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl

From Middle English delle, del, from Old English dell (“small dale”), from Proto-Germanic *daljō (“a hollow, abyss”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *dalą (“valley, dale”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰol-, *dʰel- (“an arch, vaulting, curve, curvature, cavity”). Cognate with Dutch del (“a dell”), German Delle (“a hollow”).

dell (plural dells)

1. A valley, especially in the form of a natural hollow, small and deep.[1]
   • 1794, William Blake, The Little Girl Found, lines 49-50

     To this day they dwell

     In a lonely dell.

   • Tickell

     In dells and dales, concealed from human sight.

• dale
• dingle
• vale
• valley
• See also Thesaurus:valley

Origin obscure. Originally thieves' cant. Compare Dutch del (“trollop, floozie”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

dell (plural dells)

1. (obsolete) A young woman; a wench.
   • Ben Jonson

     Sweet doxies and dells

• wapping dell

From Proto-Albanian *daislā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-slo (compare Latin fīlum, Lithuanian gýsla, Serbo-Croatian žȉla).

dell m (indefinite plural dej)

1. (anatomy) tendon
2. sinew

From Arabic ظِلّ‎ (ẓill).

dell m

1. shade

dell (verbal noun dellal)

1. to negotiate, deal, trade, traffic

dell

1. Alternative form of delle

dell

1. Alternative form of dill