delve

English edit

WOTD – 17 May 2007

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /dɛlv/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛlv

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English delven, from Old English delfan (“to dig, dig out, burrow, bury”), from Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelbʰ- (“to dig”). Cognate with West Frisian dolle (“to dig, delve”), Dutch delven (“to dig, delve”), Low German dölven (“to dig, delve”), dialectal German delben, telben (“to dig, delve”).

Verb edit

delve (third-person singular simple present delves, present participle delving, simple past delved or (obsolete) dolve, past participle delved or (archaic) dolven)

(intransitive) To dig into the ground, especially with a shovel.
- 1697, Virgil, “Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  Delve of convenient depth your thrashing floor.
- 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:
  I got a spade from the tool-house, and began to delve with all my might - it scraped the coffin; I fell to work with my hands; the wood commenced cracking about the screws; I was on the point of attaining my object, when it seemed that I heard a sigh from some one above, close at the edge of the grave, and bending down.
(transitive, intransitive) To search thoroughly and carefully for information, research, dig into, penetrate, fathom, trace out
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
  I cannot delve him to the root.
- 1943, Emile C. Tepperman, Calling Justice, Inc.!:
  She was intensely eager to delve into the mystery of Mr. Joplin and his brief case.
(transitive, intransitive) To dig; to excavate.
- 1483, Jacobus de Voragine, translated by William Caxton, The Golden Legend:
  And then they made an oratory behind the altar, and would have dolven for to have laid the body in that oratory […]
- 1865, Sebastian Evans, Brother Fabian's Manuscript: And Other Poems, page 59:
  They dolve a grave beneath the arrow
  And covered it with brere.
- 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter IV, in The White Company:
  Let him take off his plates and delve himself, if delving must be done.

Synonyms edit

(to dig the ground): dig
(to search thoroughly): investigate, research

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

dolven

Translations edit

to dig in the ground

Bulgarian: копая (bg) (kopaja)
Czech: rýt impf, zrýt pf, vyrýt pf, kopat (cs) impf, vykopat (cs) pf
Danish: grave
Dutch: delven (nl)
Finnish: kaivaa (fi)
French: creuser (fr)
German: graben (de), buddeln (de) (colloquial)
Greek: σκαλίζω (el) (skalízo), σκάβω (el) (skávo)
Hungarian: ás (hu)
Icelandic: grafa (með skóflu, with a shovel), moka
Italian: scavare (it)
Japanese: ほる (ja)
Low German:
German Low German: dölven
Norwegian: grave (no)
Persian: کندن (fa) (kandan)
Portuguese: cavar (pt)
Romanian: săpa (ro)
Russian: рыть (ru) (rytʹ), копа́ть (ru) (kopátʹ)
Spanish: cavar (es), excavar (es)
Swedish: gräva (sv)
Ukrainian: рити (ryty), копати (kopaty)
Welsh: cloddio (cy)
West Frisian: dolle

to search carefully for information

Bulgarian: ровя се (rovja se)
Czech: rýt se impf, hrabat se impf, zkoumat (cs) impf, pátrat (cs) impf, vypátrat (cs) pf, vyhrabat (cs) pf, vyzkoumat pf
Danish: dykke ned i
Finnish: penkoa (fi), tutkia (fi), paneutua (fi)
French: fouiller (fr)
German: untersuchen (de), erforschen (de), ergründen (de), eintauchen (de), wühlen (de), sich befassen mit (de)
Greek: ερευνώ (el) (erevnó)
Icelandic: rannsaka, kanna
Italian: investigare (it), indagare (it)
Persian: کاویدن (fa) (kâvidan)
Portuguese: investigar (pt)
Russian: ры́ться (ru) (rýtʹsja), копа́ться (ru) (kopátʹsja)
Spanish: investigar (es), ahondar (es)
Ukrainian: заглиблюватися (zahlybljuvatysja), ритися (rytysja), копатися (kopatysja)

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English delve, delf, dælf, from Old English delf, ġedelf (“digging”) and dælf (“that which is dug out, delf, ditch”). More at delf.

Noun edit

delve (plural delves)

(now rare) A pit or den.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  the wise Merlin whylome wont (they say) / To make his wonne, low vnderneath the ground, / In a deepe delue, farre from the vew of day [...].
- 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 75:
  I put the clods on top the delve and gave it all a good thumping down with my feet.