dill

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dile, also dille,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English dile, also dyle,^[5][6][7][8] from Proto-Germanic *deliz.^[1] It is cognate with Old Saxon dilli, Dutch dille, Old High German tilli, Danish dild and Swedish dill;^[8][9][3][7] German Dill has its D- from Low German.^[9][7] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford link the Old English variant dyle with Middle Dutch dulle, Middle High German tülle and Old Norse dylla.^[6][7][2] The further origin is unknown;^{[10][8][6][11][12]} the American Heritage Dictionary suggests a western European substrate.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The herb dill, also its seed: in Old English, before 700 according to Barnhart,^[9][8] where it glosses Latin anethum.^[5] Old English medical recipes prescribe its blossoms and seeds.^[5][2] Barnhart dates Middle English dile to about 1150 and the spelling dill to 1373.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The plant name has kept its meaning;^[8] Etymonline notes that the Old English word could also be glossed "anise".^[10][5] Locally it was applied to other umbelliferous plants and to some vetches (from about 1680),^[8] and the English Dialect Dictionary records dill for the tare or vetch in Cheshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.^[13] Johnson (1755) described the plant at length, comparing its leaves to fennel's.^[14] The dill pickle, a cucumber pickled with dill, is recorded from 1899 according to Etymonline, 1906 according to Barnhart,^[10][9] and dill alone came to mean such a pickle.^[15]

Timeline

• before 700 – Old English dile, the plant dill.^[9][8]
• c. 1150 – Middle English dile.^[9]
• 1373 – the spelling dill.^[9]
• c. 1680 – locally, other umbelliferous plants and some vetches.^[8]
• 1899 – dill pickle.^[10] Barnhart dates it to 1906.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An aromatic umbelliferous plant, Anethum graveolens, with finely divided leaves and clusters of yellow flowers.^[16][15][8]
2. The leaves or seeds of this plant, used to flavour pickles, soups and fish: She sprinkled chopped dill over the salmon.^[16][15]
3. A dill pickle.^[15]

Word family

• dilled

Usage notes

Several other words are spelled dill.^[8][13] In Australian and New Zealand slang a dill is a fool or a dupe, recorded from 1933 and apparently a back-formation from dilly, foolish.^[8][7][17] A dialect verb dill, to soothe or lull, is recorded from before 1500 and is related to dull.^[8][15][13]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
16. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com