List of English words of Dutch origin
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This is a list of words of Dutch language origin. However, note that this list does also include some words of which the etymology is uncertain, and that some may have been derived from Middle Low German equivalents instead or as well. Some of these words, such as cookie and boss and aardvark, are without a doubt of Dutch origin. But, many of these words are similar not because they are Dutch loan words, but because English, like Dutch, is a Germanic language. Some of these words lack a counterpart in modern Dutch, having been lost since the time it was borrowed.
- literally: the literal meaning of the Dutch word (the actual meaning is similar to the English one)
- originally: the word originally had the meaning specified, but is in Dutch also used with the same meaning as in English
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
[edit] A
- Aardvark
- from aardvarken (via Afrikaans)
- Ahoy
- from hoi (="hello")
- Avast
- from houvast (="holdfast, support")
[edit] B
- bantam
- from Bantam, Java
- Berm
- from berm
- to bluff
- from bluffen (="to bluff")
- boom
- from boom (="tree")
- Boomslang
- from boom + slang (="tree snake")
- Boss
- from baas
- Brandy (wine)
- from brandewijn (=literally "burned wine")
- Bundle
- from bundel
- bumpkin
- from bommekijn (="little barrel")
- Buoy
- from boei (="shackle" or "buoy")
[edit] C
- Coleslaw
- from koolsla
- Cookie
- from koekje, Hollandic koekie
- Cruise
- from (door)kruisen (="to cross paths or to cross")
- Cruller
- from Dutch krullen "to curl"
[edit] D
- Dapper
- from dapper (brave)
- Deck
- from dek ="covering" (entered English as "the cover over a ship's hold")
- Dock (maritime)
- possibly from Middle Dutch dok
- Drill
- from Middle Dutch dril, drille
- Decoy
- from eendekooi ( a contraption to catch wild ducks = eenden, it consists of a pond with tame 'decoy' ducks and a cage = kooi )
[edit] E
[edit] F
- Filibuster
- from Spanish filibustero from French flibustier from Dutch vrijbuiter (="pirate")
- Forlorn hope
- from verloren hoop (literally "lost hope", figuratively "suicide squad")
- Freebooter
- from vrijbuiter
- Freight
- from vracht
- Frolic
- from vrolijk (="cheerful, gay")
- Furlough
- from verlof (="permission (to leave)")
[edit] G
- Gas
- from gas, a neologism from Jan Baptista van Helmont, derived from the Greek Chaos
- Gin
- from jenever
- Gnu
- from Dutch gnoe (from Bushman !nu)
- Grab
- from grijpen (="to seize, to grasp, to snatch")
[edit] H
- Halibut
- from heilbot (=literally "health flounder")
- Haul
- possibly from halen( to fetch)
- Hoist
- possibly from Middle Dutch hijsen
- Holster
- from holster
- Hunk
- from hunkeren (="to lust after"), (="to long for")
- Hotchpot
- from: hutspot
[edit] I
- Iceberg
- probably from Dutch ijsberg, Danish isbjerg or Swedish isberg.
- Isinglass
- probably from Dutch huizenblas (this is no current Dutch word)
[edit] J
[edit] K
- Keelhaul
- from kielhalen (=literally "to haul keel")
- Kill (body of water)
- from kil from Middle Dutch kille (=literally "riverbed)
- Knapsack
- possibly from knapzak (=literally "bag of food")
[edit] L
[edit] M
- Maelstrom
- from maalstroom (=literally "grinding current" or "stirring current")(possibly Norse in origin)
- Manikin
- from manneken (=literally "little man")
- Mannequin
- from Dutch manneken (=literally "little man")
- Measles
- possibly from mazelen
- Morass
- from moeras(swamp)
[edit] N
[edit] O
- Offal
- possibly from Middle Dutch afval
[edit] P
- Patroon
- from patroon
- Polder
- from polder
- Poppycock
- from pappekak (=dialect for "soft dung")
- Pump
- from pomp
[edit] Q
- Quack
- shortened from quacksalver, from kwakzalver (= literally "someone who daubs ointments")
[edit] R
- Roster
- from rooster (="schedule, or grating/grill")
[edit] S
- Santa Claus
- from Sinterklaas (="Saint Nicholas")
- Scone
- from schoon (="clean")
- Scow
- from schouw
- Ship
- from Schip
- Skate, to skate
- from schaats. The noun was originally adopted as in Dutch, with 'skates' being the singular form of the noun; due to the similarity to regular English plurals this form was ultimately used as the plural while 'skate' was derived for use as singular."
- Sketch
- from schets
- Skipper
- from schipper (=literally "shipper")
- Sled, sleigh
- from Middle Dutch slede, slee
- Sloop
- from sloep
- Slurp
- from slurpen
- (Fishing) Smack
- possibly from smak
- Smack (kiss/slap)
- possibly from MIddle Dutch smacken
- smelt
- from smelten (="to melt")
- Smuggle
- from smokkelen
- Snack
- perhaps from Middle Dutch snakken (="to gasp", originally "to eat"/"chatter")
- snuff
- from snuiftabak (=literally "sniff tobacco")
- Splinter
- from splinter
- Split
- from splijten
- Spook
- from spook (="ghost(ly image)")
- Stenting
- from stek (="cutting") and enten (="grafting"). This is term used specifically in propagation and cultivation of rose plants.
- Stoke
- from stoken (="stoke a fire")
- Stoop (steps)
- from stoep (="pavement/sidewalk")
- Stove
- from stoof or stoven (="to cook")
- Sutler
- from zoetelaar (="camp cook")
[edit] T
- tattoo (military term)
- from taptoe (=literally "close the tap")
- Trigger
- from trekker (Trekken ="to pull")
[edit] U
[edit] V
[edit] W
[edit] X
[edit] Y
- Yacht
- from jacht (=originally "hunt")
- Yankee
- from Jan Kees, a personal name, originally used mockingly to describe pro-French revolutionary citizens, with allusion to the small keeshond dog, then for "colonials" in New Amsterdam (Note: this is not the only possible etymology for the word yankee. For one thing, the Oxford English Dictionary has quotes with the term from as early as 1765, quite some time before the French Revolution.)
[edit] Z
- Zeekoe
- from zeekoe (=literally "sea cow"); note that "zeekoe" in Dutch refers to the manatee, not the hippopotamus, to which the English "zeekoe" refers. This, in turn, is called "nijlpaard" (=literally "nile horse") in Dutch. However, in Afrikaans seekoei does mean hippopotamus.
