# dene

Pronunciation: say "DEEN" /diːn/

## Noun

1. A valley, especially the deep valley cut by a stream or small brook. *(dialectal, Northumbria)*
   - Simple: A valley, often a deep one with a small stream running through it.
   - _A footpath follows the burn through the wooded dene down to the coast._
   - _As children we spent whole summers building dams in the denes behind the houses._
2. A sand dune lying along the seashore.
   - Simple: A hill of sand next to the sea.
   - _The fishermen hauled their boats up past the dene, well out of reach of the tide._
   - _A sandy path winds through the denes to the old lifeboat station on the beach._

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — From Middle English dene, which comes from Old English dene.
**Meaning 2** — Perhaps related to Middle Low German düne (“dune”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dene (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).