Dimble, Dingle, Dip, Ditch: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Valley, Cave

Valleys and caves, as well as human-made features of a similar nature, are known by many different words in English. In the current alphabetic series of such terms, the next examples are dimble, dingle, dip, and ditch.

Dimble
The origin of dimble (16th century) is uncertain. It may be an alteration of dingle (see dingle below), or it may be a derivation of the word dim, gloominess and obscurity being associated with the topographical dimble.

Dimble is a dialectal word in England for a deep, well-wooded, shady dell, hollow, or ravine (1589). Variant forms include dumble and drumble.

Dingle
The origin of dingle (13th century) is uncertain. An isolated literary use of the word dated c. 1240 was followed by several hundred years in which the word was apparently used only in spoken dialect in England. The word reappeared in literary use during the 17th century and is now part of standard English.

Dingle has two senses. One is synonymous with dimble: a small wooded valley. The other meaning of dingle is a deep narrow cleft between hills, such as a narrow dale or dell.

Dip
The noun dip (16th century) comes from the verb dip, which goes back to Old English dyppan (before 12th century), which is akin to Old High German tupfen ("to wash").

A hollow or depression to which the surrounding high ground dips or sinks is a dip (1789).

Ditch
Modern English ditch (16th century) comes from Middle English dich (12th century), from Old English dic (before 12th century). The word is akin to Middle High German tich ("pond, dike").

In ancient times, a long narrow trench dug out of the ground was often used as a boundary, a fence, or a fortification. Such a hollow was called in Old English a dic (9th century).

Water tends to gather and flow In such an excavation. Therefore, a second sense of dic evolved: a trench used specifically for the purpose of conveying water (9th century).

During the Middle English period, the word dich was applied to both of the above senses.

Later, the modern form ditch came to denote not only the two previous senses, pertaining to artificial constructions, but also a natural channel functioning as a watercourse (1589).
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.