entry
deal
/diːl/A share, portion, or business bargain
From Proto-Germanic dail (to divide).
from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild , Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch deel ,...
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild , Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch deel ,...
from Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”)
from Middle English del, dele
from PIE *dail- "to divide" (source also of Old Church Slavonic delu , Lithuanian dalis "part"), perhaps a Northern...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”)
from Middle English del, dele
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild , Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch deel ,...
+1 more sourcefrom Proto-Germanic *dailaz (source also of Old Norse deild , Old Frisian del "part; juridical district," Dutch deel ,...
from Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”)
from Middle English del, dele
from PIE *dail- "to divide" (source also of Old Church Slavonic delu , Lithuanian dalis "part"), perhaps a Northern...
+1 more sourcefrom Old English dǣl (“part, share, portion”)
from Middle English del, dele
A humble little word for a slice of something ended up sneaking into the language of poker tables, politics, and teenager sarcasm. In Old English, dǣl was just a “part” or “share,” the sort of word you’d hear when grain was being divided up or land was being allotted; its verb cousin dǣlan meant to divide things out. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt was talking about a “New Deal” in 1932, the old sense of an arrangement had been stretched into political theater, and later the phrase “big deal” turned that same idea into either importance or eye-rolling contempt. The family resemblance is still there in older cousins like dole and in German Teil, all carrying the same ancient idea of splitting a whole into pieces. So when someone says a deal today, they may be talking about a bargain, a quantity, or a handshake across a table—but the word still remembers the first act of civilization: deciding who gets what.
The Story
A humble little word for a slice of something ended up sneaking into the language of poker tables, politics, and teenager sarcasm. In Old English, dǣl was just a “part” or “share,” the sort of word you’d hear when grain was being divided up or land was being allotted; its verb cousin dǣlan meant to divide things out. By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt was talking about a “New Deal” in 1932, the old sense of an arrangement had been stretched into political theater, and later the phrase “big deal” turned that same idea into either importance or eye-rolling contempt. The family resemblance is still there in older cousins like dole and in German Teil, all carrying the same ancient idea of splitting a whole into pieces. So when someone says a deal today, they may be talking about a bargain, a quantity, or a handshake across a table—but the word still remembers the first act of civilization: deciding who gets what.
Modern Usage
an expression of resignation or acceptance; also an ironic 'so what?'
Popularized by: informal English and internet usage, with strong modern slang evidence in Urban Dictionary
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary examples using 'Deal.' as resigned acceptance
Kin & Kindred
From 'dail'·to divide, part, share
Derived Terms
English words from this root