dull English · revision 15161

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1200|origins=gem-pro *dulaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʌl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|dul]], apparently related to [[ang|dol|t=dull-witted, foolish]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) though Etymonline also allows an unrecorded parallel word or a borrowing of [[gml|dul|t=foolish, reckless]], and Hoad compares the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch words.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) All go back to [[gem-pro|*dulaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is also the source of [[ofs|dol]], [[osx|dol]] and [[goh|tol]] (modern [[de|toll|t=mad, wild]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It is sometimes traced to a root meaning dust, vapour or smoke, which gave words for clouded wits, such as [[sga|dall|t=blind]] and [[grc|θολός|tr=tholós|t=mud]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Not quick of understanding, stupid: about 940 in the OED, probably about 1200 in Barnhart, about 1200 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Blunt, not sharp, is from about 1230, in the Ancrene Riwle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dull senses are from about 1340,^(OED 1989) slow or sluggish from 1393,^(OED 1989) dispirited from about 1393,^(OED 1989) and overcast weather from about 1430.^(OED 1989) The sense boring, tedious, is first recorded in 1590, in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Trade has been dull since 1705, and pain since 1725.^(OED 1989) The verb, to lessen the vigour of, is from about 1200, and to make blunt from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Dullard is from the 15th century.^(Hoad 1986) In dialects across Scotland and England dull also meant deaf or hard of hearing,^(Wright 1898) and in Antrim a dull was a horsehair noose for catching trout.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 940 – slow of understanding.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – to dull (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1230 – blunt.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1393 – sluggish.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – overcast.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – boring, tedious.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Slow to understand; [[stupid]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Lacking interest; [[boring]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # Not sharp; [[blunt]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Not intense or keenly felt: ''a dull ache''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of weather, cloudy; [[overcast]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # Not brisk; sluggish.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of colour, lacking brightness; of sound, muffled.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Lacking spirit; [[listless]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become dull.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dullish]]

+ * [[dully]]

+ * [[dullness]]

+ * [[dullsville]]

+ * [[dullard]]

+ * [[dull-witted]]

+ * [[undulled]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[doldrums]]

+ * [[dwell]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}