Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Dim(h)ingdala, Dim(h)ingdale 12 Font

• Dimigdal 1268 ib

Etymology

Dimingdale (lost), Dim (h )ingdala , Dim (h )ingdale 12 Font, Dimigdal 1268 ib.This is a much earlier example of a common p.n. found as Dim(m)in Dale iii, 204, v, 28 supra and several times in Db (v. Dimin Dale recorded from c. 1460 Db 169, etc., cf. also Dimsdale St, Dymsdale D 86).Dr Cameron points out William of Worcester's interpretation of the Db p.n. as valey vocatum Dymmyngysdale ubi spiritus sunt tormentati , that is, 'demon's valley', but this is a popular etymology, since on phonological as well as historical grounds the first el. dim (m )ing cannot be from e.ModE  demon (first recorded in 1387 Trevisa, but not generally till the sixteenth century, NED s.v.). No pers.n. is known with the form Dim (m )ing or Dym (m )ing , and in any case it would be unusual to find so rare a name repeated in this context so frequently. The first el. is therefore likely to be a significant word, and the only suggestion for it is ME  dimming 'the action of growing dim' (OE  *dimmung ); OE fem. verbal abstract nouns sometimes became concrete (cf. EPN i, 285, s.v. -ing 1 § iv) and by this dimming could have acquired some such meaning as 'dark, dim place'. The p.n. Dimingdale would in general terms denote 'valley of darkness, a dark valley', v. dæl .