dimple (n.)
c. 1400, "natural transient small dent in some soft part of the human body," especially that produced in the cheek of a young person by the act of smiling, perhaps from an Old English as a word meaning "pothole," perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz, which has yielded words in other languages meaning "small pit, little pool" (such as German Tümpel "pool," Middle Low German dümpelen, Dutch dompelen "to plunge").
In place-names from c. 1200; as a surname from late 13c. Meaning "slight indentation or impression in any surface" is from 1630s. Related: Dimples.
dimple (v.)
1570s (implied in dimpled), intransitive, "form dimples," from dimple (n.). Transitive sense "mark with dimples" is from c. 1600.
updated on August 20, 2018
Dictionary entries near dimple
dimity
dimmer
dimmish
dimorphism
dimorphous
dimple
dimwit
din
Dinah
dinar
Dinaric