Etymology: Old English díc , which has also given dike n.¹The analogy of other words, e.g. Middle English like , liche , (dead) body, like , liche , adjective, -rik , -riche , suffix in kinrik , kyneriche , etc., ik , ich , I, pik , piche , pitch, stike , stiche , stitch, leads us to expect dike as the northern, dich as the southern representation of Old English díc . The Middle English evidence favours this; but in modern use, both forms occur in nearly all parts of the country, with various differentiation of meaning. Generally, ditch is a hollow channel or deep furrow, wet or dry, but in some parts (see sense 4) it is an embankment or raised fence; usually dike or dyke is a bank or wall, but in many parts it is a wide and deep channel for running water. The existence of dick or deek in this sense in Kent, Sussex, and other southern counties, is remarkable. The use of dike , dyke , for a seawall or embankment in the eastern counties, may possibly have been introduced from Holland: compare the title dike-grave n.

Etymology: < ditch n.¹Old English had dícian, but this would regularly give dike: compare lícian, like.

Etymology: Old English décan , Middle English dēche to smear, daub: apparently unknown to the other Germanic languages. It is notable that this verb, used in Old English and in modern dialects, is known to us, during the intervening 900 years, only in the 15th cent. translation of Palladius on Husbandry: see deche v. The modern ditch shows a recent shortening of /iː/ to /ɪ/.