ish
_dige_, and in French, derived from Teutonic, _digue_; it is the same
word as "ditch" and is ultimately connected with the root of "dig"),
properly a trench dug out of the earth for defensive and other purposes.
Water naturally collects in such trenches, and hence the word is applied
to natural and artificial channels filled with water, as appears in the
proverbial expression "February fill-dyke," and in the names of many
narrow waterways in East Anglia. "Dike" also is naturally used of the
bank of earth thrown up out of the ditch, and so of any embankment, dam
or causeway, particularly the defensive works in Holland, the Fen
district of England, and other low-lying districts which are liable to
flooding by the sea or rivers (see HOLLAND and FENS). In Scotland any
wall, fence or even hedge, used as a boundary is called a dyke. In
geology the term is applied to wall-like masses of rock (sometimes
projecting beyond the surrounding surface) which fill up vertical or
highly inclined fissures in the strata.

DIKKA, a term in Mahommedan architecture for the tribune raised upon
columns, from which the Koran is recited and the prayers intoned by the
Imam of the mosque.

DILAPIDATION (Lat. for "scattering the stones," _lapides_, of a
building), a term meaning in general a falling into decay, but more
particularly used in the plural in English law for (1) the waste
committed by the incumbent of an ecclesiastical living; (2) the
disrepair for which a tenant is usually liable when he has agreed to
give up his premises in good repair (see EASEMENT; FLAT; LANDLORD AND
TENANT). By the general law a tenant for life has no power to cut down
timber, destroy buildings, &c., (voluntary waste), or to let buildings
fall into disrepair (permissive waste). In the eye of the law an
incumbent of a living is a tenant for life of his benefice, and any
waste, voluntary or permissive, on his part must be made good by his
administrators to his successor in office. The principles on which such
dilapidations are to be ascertained, and the application of the money
payable in respect thereof, depend partly on old ecclesiastical law and
partly on acts of parliament. Questions as to ecclesiastical
dilapidations usually arise in respect of the residence house and other
buildings belonging to the living. Inclosures, hedges, ditches and the
like are included in things "of which the beneficed person hath the
burden and charge of reparation."