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Digging Up the History of Delve
We must dig deep into the English language’s past to find the origins of delve. The verb traces to the early Old English word delfan meaning “to dig.” For centuries, there was only delving—no digging—because dig didn’t exist until much later; it appears in early Middle English. Given dig and delve’s overlapping meanings today, is the phrase “dig and delve” (as in the line “eleven, twelve, dig and delve,” from the nursery rhyme that begins “one, two, buckle my shoe”) redundant? Not necessarily. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in some local uses, dig was the term for working with a mattock (a tool similar to an adze or a pick), while delve was reserved for work done using a spade. Although delve has a history of use for literal digging, nowadays the term is often applied to carefully researching or examining something, as in “delving into the past.”
Examples of delve in a Sentence
Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
Both children hold disdain for their parents' criminal activity, but team up to delve into their world when their brothers encounter one another, leaving those around them with more questions than answers.
—Angela Andaloro, People.com, 21 Mar. 2025
The 400-page book (available to order now via Gibson Publishing) delves into Hammett’s life and music via his massive collection of guitars.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2025
Now, in a new memoir, From the Rez to the Runway Forging: My Path in Fashion (Collins), Allaire delves into his profoundly meaningful (and sometimes isolating) experience being a change-maker in his field.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 20 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Delve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delve. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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