dalk

dalk

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English dalke, dalk, from Old English dalc (“clasp, buckle, brooch, bracelet”), from Proto-Germanic *dalkaz (“clasp, pin”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelg- (“to stick; needle, pin”). Cognate with Icelandic dálkur (“cloak-pin”), Latin falx (“scythe”).

Noun

dalk (plural dalks)

1. A pin; brooch; clasp

Etymology 2

From Middle English dalke; perhaps a diminutive of dale, dell. In that case from Old English *daluc, from Proto-Germanic *dalukaz.

Alternative forms

• delk

Noun

dalk (plural dalks)

1. (now rare) A hollow or depression.
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 120:

     On a sunny September morning, with the trees still green, but the asters and fleabanes already taking over in ditch and dalk, Van set out for Ladoga, N.A.

---

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Afrikaans dadelik (“immediately”), from Dutch dadelijk.The sense shift from “immediately” to “possibly” is similar to English dialectal drekly from directly.

Adverb

dalk

1. perchance, perhaps, possibly

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English dalc, from Proto-Germanic *dalkaz.

Noun

dalk

1. Alternative form of dalke (“brooch”)

Etymology 2

From Old English *daluc.

Noun

dalk

1. Alternative form of dalke (“depression”)