Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

dyke

/ˈdaɪ̯k/ noun

In Latin: diga Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dyke at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An earthwork raised to prevent inundation of low land by the sea or flooding rivers.
A low embankment or stone wall serving as an enclosure and boundary marker.
A raised causeway.

verb

To dig, particularly to create a ditch.
To surround with a ditch, to entrench.
To surround with a low dirt or stone wall.

noun

A lesbian, particularly one with masculine or butch traits or behavior; a non-heterosexual woman.
A masculine woman.

Origin

A variant of dike, from Northern Middle English dik and dike (“ditch”), from Old Norse díki (“ditch”). Influenced by Middle Dutch dijc (“ditch; dam”) and Middle Low German dīk (“dam”). See also ditch. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dīkiją (“trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“stick into, pierce; dig, stick a spade into”). The semantic evolution (also seen in several cognate words) was from "stick (a spade) into" to "dig" to "hole or other product of digging", "excavation", then the ridge of earth created when excavating a ditch, then to a ridge of earth intended to prevent flooding.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word