delve
/dɛlv/verb
delve is spelled D-E-L-V-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, delve means “To dig into the ground, especially with a shovel” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in delve?
| Letters | 5: D-E-L-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 24,170th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is delve?
Delve appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 24,170th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce delve?
- /dɛlv/
Delve has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-delve.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of delve
- delves present, singular, he/she/it
- delving participle, present
- delved past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does delve mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To dig into the ground, especially with a shovel.
- 2
To dig; to excavate.
- 3
To search thoroughly and carefully for information, research, dig into, penetrate, fathom, trace out
noun
- 1
archaicA pit or den.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Delve in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | creuser , fouiller |
| German | graben, buddeln , untersuchen, erforschen, ergründen, eintauchen |
| Portuguese | cavar , investigar |
| Spanish | ahondar / profundizar, hurguetear, adentrarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does delve come from?
From Middle English delven, from Old English delfan (“to dig, dig out, burrow, bury”), from Proto-Germanic *delbaną (“to dig”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelbʰ- (“to dig”). Cognate with West Frisian dolle (“to dig, delve”), Dutch delven (“to dig, delve”), Low German dölven (“to dig, delve”), dialectal German delben, telben (“to dig, delve”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).