dell
DEL
A small, sheltered, wooded valley — intimate, shaded, and usually quiet. A dell is the landscape at its most domestic: a dip in the ground with trees around it, a place to sit and be enclosed. The word is gentle and old and slightly literary, and it names a landform that is too small and too soft to appear on maps but large enough to be remembered.
Etymology
Old English dell, a hollow, a dale. Related to dale and German Tal, valley.
Notes
Folks of a certain generation might remember the song, Farmer in the Dell. The rhyme was first recorded in Germany in 1826, as "Es fuhr ein Bau'r ins Holz." It describes a courtship game, with a farmer choosing a wife, then selecting a child, maid, and serving man who leaves the maid after kissing her.
Skiers might note the wool outerwear brand Dale of Norway. Same root.
Skiers might note the wool outerwear brand Dale of Norway. Same root.
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