# ditch

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɪt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #8,273

## Definitions
1. A trench; a long, shallow indentation, as for irrigation or drainage.
2. A raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top.

## Etymology
From Middle English dich, from Old English dīċ (“trench, moat”) from Proto-Germanic *dīkaz (compare Swedish dike, Icelandic díki, West Frisian dyk (“dam”), Dutch dijk (“dam”), German Teich (“pond”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stick, set up”) (compare Latin fīgō (“to affix, fasten”), Lithuanian diegti (“to prick; plant”), dýgsti (“to geminate, grow”)). Doublet of dike.

## Easily confused with
- **doth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-doth)
- **Dutch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-dutch)
- **ditto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-ditto)
- **ditty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-ditty)
- **ditched** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-ditched)
- **ditches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ditch-vs-ditches)
- **dit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dit-vs-ditch)
- **dick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dick-vs-ditch)
- **dish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dish-vs-ditch)
- **disc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/disc-vs-ditch)
- **dice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dice-vs-ditch)
- **disco** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/disco-vs-ditch)
- **Dinah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dinah-vs-ditch)
- **detach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/detach-vs-ditch)

## Common misspellings (8)
`dditch`, `dicth`, `ditcch`, `ditchh`, `dithc`, `dittch`, `dtich`, `idtch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ditch