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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
Liz Schubauer, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
Christiansen, on the other hand, didn't think the album delved deep enough into the showgirl lifestyle.
—Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Developed over six years and filmed across 17 cities on three continents, the documentary delves into the largest environmental lawsuit in history, following the devastating collapse of the Mariana dam in Brazil.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 2 Oct. 2025
The series delves into the lives of Arthur Guinness’ four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, and their lives in Dublin and New York City.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for delve
Cite this Entry
“Delve.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delve. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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