ditch English · revision 14969

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=847}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪtʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|diche]], [[inh|ang|dīc|t=ditch, dike]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) cognate with [[osx|dīk]], [[nl|dijk]], [[de|Teich|t=pond]] and [[non|díki]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986) The Old English word gave a northern form [[dike]] and a southern form ditch, spelled with t mostly from the 16th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A dike was first a trench and later the bank thrown up by digging one.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A long narrow trench: 847.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A trench for water or drainage is from 1297.^(OED 1989) The verb, to surround with a ditch or dig one, is from about 1385, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) To throw into a ditch is from 1816, and then to derail a train,^(Etymonline) which led to the American slang sense, to abandon or discard (1899).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Of aircraft, to come down in the sea, it is by 1941,^(Etymonline) perhaps helped by naval and RAF slang ''the ditch'' for the sea or the English Channel (1922).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In Australia and New Zealand ''the Ditch'' is the Tasman Sea.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 847 – a ditch.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1297 – a drainage ditch.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – to ditch (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1816 – to throw into a ditch.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1899 – to abandon (US).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1941 – to ditch an aircraft.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long narrow channel dug in the ground, as for drainage or irrigation or to mark a boundary.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any small natural waterway.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''last ditch'': a last line of defence or a last resort.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To dig a ditch in, or surround with one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' To get rid of; to abandon or jilt.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To land an aircraft in the sea in an emergency.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To drive a vehicle into a ditch; to derail a train.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ditchless]]

+ * [[ditchdigger]]

+ * [[ditcher]]

+ * [[last-ditch]]

+ * [[ditchwater]]

+ * [[bar ditch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dike]]

+ * [[dyke]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}