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Added 9 October 2026

shallow

/ˈʃæləʊ/ adjective

In Latin: vadōsus Wiktionary

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

Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.
This crater is relatively shallow.
Extending not far downward.
The water is shallow here.
Concerned mainly with superficial matters.
It was a glamorous but shallow lifestyle.

noun

A shallow portion of an otherwise deep body of water.
The ship ran aground in an unexpected shallow.
A fish, the rudd.
A costermonger's barrow.

verb

To make or become less deep.

Origin

From Middle English schalowe (“not deep, shallow”); apparently related to Middle English schalde, schold, scheld, schealde (“shallow”), from Old English sċeald (“shallow”), from Proto-Germanic *skal-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- (“to parch, dry out”). Related to Low German Scholl (“shallow water”). See also shoal.

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

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