a ditch or drain, made for the passage of waters. The word seems to have been formed from the verb to dig; though others choose to derive it from the Dutch dijk, a dam, sea-bank, or wall.

Dyke, also denotes a work of stone, timber, or fascines, raised to oppose the entrance or passage of the waters of the sea, a river, lake, or the like. The word comes from the Flemish dyk, or diik, a heap of earth to bound or stem the water. Junius and Ménage conceive the Flemish to have borrowed their word from the Greek τείχος, wall; but Guichard derives it from the Hebrew דָּגְחַה. These dikes are usually elevations of earth, with hurdles of stakes, stones, and other matters.