dells
[delz]
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Origin of dells
by construal as a plural of dell
dell
[del]
- a small, usually wooded valley; vale.
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Origin of dell
Dell
[del]
- a male or female given name.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dells
Historical Examples
Now many were the hills and dells haunted by the fairy folk.
Stories from the BalladsMary MacGregor
We are delighted to hear that your little folks like the dells.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10)John Gibson Lockhart
I am the same Œnone whom thou didst woo in the dells of woody Ida.
Museum of AntiquityL. W. Yaggy
It is located on the left at the entrance to the wild grandeur of the Dells.
Baraboo, Dells, and Devil's Lake RegionH. E. Cole
Besides the Dells there are other places of interest at beautiful Kilbourn.
Baraboo, Dells, and Devil's Lake RegionH. E. Cole
dell
- a small, esp wooded hollow
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Word Origin
Old English; related to Middle Low German delle valley; compare dale
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dells
dell
n.2
rogue's cant 16c.-17c. for "a young girl of the vagrant class," of uncertain origin.
A Dell is a yonge wenche, able for generation, and not yet knowen or broken by the vpright man. ... [W]hen they have beene lyen with all by the vpright man then they be Doxes, and no Dells. [Thomas Harman, "A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors," 1567]
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dell
n.1
Old English dell "dell, hollow, dale" (perhaps lost and then borrowed in Middle English from cognate Middle Dutch/Middle Low German delle), from Proto-Germanic *daljo (cf. German Delle "dent, depression," Gothic ib-dalja "slope of a mountain"); related to dale (q.v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper