dyke
UK[daɪk]US[daɪk]
n
A long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea or a river.
n
A ditch or channel for draining water.
n
(Geology) A sheet of rock that has formed within a crack in a larger rock mass.
n
(Offensive Slang) A derogatory term for a lesbian, especially one with a masculine appearance.
Etymology
The word "dyke," in its primary sense meaning a ditch or embankment, originates from the Old English word "dīc," which meant both a trench and the bank of earth formed from digging it. This Old English term is cognate with the Dutch "dijk" and the German "Deich." The ultimate origin is likely the Proto-Germanic dīkaz, related to the verb dīkaną, "to dig or knead." The geological sense developed in the 19th century from the resemblance of a rock intrusion to a man-made wall. The offensive slang usage is 20th-century in origin, its exact path from the core meaning being uncertain but often suggested to derive from associations with "digging" or from "dyke" as a shortening of "hermaphrodite," influenced by the earlier slang term "morphodyke."
Analysis
The modern English spelling "dyke" is a direct representation of the entire word. It is not productively formed from smaller, meaningful morphemes within contemporary English.
Examples
The ancient fenlands were protected by a network of dykes and sluices.
The farmer dug a dyke to drain the waterlogged field.
A prominent basalt dyke cuts across the older sedimentary layers.