dell
nounnounattested in dialogue
- //dɛl//
A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow.
noun
- 1
A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow.
To this day they dwell In a lonely dell.
In dells and dales, conceal'd from human sight.
Already the shrill lark is out of sight, Flooding with waves of song this silent dell, ---Ah! there is something more in that bird's flight Than could be tested in a crucible!--- But the air freshens, let us go, why soon The woodmen will be here; how we have lived this night of June![...]
Etymology
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.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA young woman; a wench.
Sweet doxies and dells
A Dell is a yonge wenche, able for generation, and not yet knowen or broken by the vpright man.
Etymology
Origin obscure. Originally thieves' cant. Possibly from dell (valley). Compare Dutch del (“trollop, floozie”).
Forms
- plural
- dells
dell · A small, deep, and wooded valley or sunken area of ground, especially in the form of a natural hollow.
Dell · A surname.Della · A female given name originating as a coinage.delphine · Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of dolphins.