Dutch

Alternative forms

• Du. (“abbreviation”)

Etymology

Derived from Middle English Duch (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Middle Low German dütsch, düdesch (“German, Low German, Dutch”) and Middle Dutch dūtsch, duutsc (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Proto-West Germanic *þiudisk, from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (“of one’s people”), derived from *þeudō (“people”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂. Doublet of Deutsch and Doitsu.

Compare Middle English thedisch (“native, endemic”) from Old English þēodisċ (“of one’s people”), Old Saxon thiudisk (German Low German düütsch (“German”)), Old High German diutisc (modern German deutsch (“German”)), modern Dutch Duits (“German”) alongside elevated Diets (“Dutch”) (a secondary distinction, fully accepted only in the 19th century). See also Derrick, Teuton, Teutonic.

The pejorative senses (Dutch courage, Dutch wife, Dutch uncle, etc.) are said to stem from the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the accompanying rivalry.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dŭch, IPA^(key): /dʌt͡ʃ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /dʊt͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -ʌtʃ

Adjective

Dutch (comparative more Dutch or Dutcher, superlative most Dutch or Dutchest)

1. Of or pertaining to the Netherlands, the Dutch people or the Dutch language.
2. (archaic, fossil word) Pertaining to Germanic-speaking peoples on the European continent, chiefly the Germans (especially established German-speaking communities in parts of the USA), or the Dutch; Teutonic; Germanic.
3. (obsolete, fossil word, derogatory) Substitute, inferior, ersatz.
4. (dated) Thrifty.
5. (South Africa, derogatory, ethnic slur) Pertaining to Afrikaner culture (Cape Dutch).

Proper noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Dutch

Wikipedia

Dutch

2. The main language of the Netherlands, Flanders (i.e., the northern half of Belgium) and Suriname; Netherlandic.
   • 2001 December 2, Giles Milton, “'The Riddle and the Knight'”, in The New York Times‎:

     By the time this mysterious knight died in the 1360s, his book was available in every European language, including Dutch, Gaelic, Czech, Catalan, and Walloon.

   • 2003, Anthony F. Buccini, "Ab errore liberato". The Northern Expansion of Frankish Power in the Merovingian Period and the Genesis of the Dutch Language, in: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik: Band 57 — 2003: Quod vulgo dicitur: Studien zum Altniederländischen, volume edited by Willy Pijnenburg, Arend Quak, Tanneke Schoonheim, here p. 183:

     According to this view, Dutch is a descendant of Old (West) Low Franconian and [...]

3. (archaic) German; the main language of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany, Austria, Alsace, Luxembourg).
4. A male given name, more often given as a nickname to someone of Dutch or German ancestry than as an official given name.

Noun

Dutch pl (plural only)

1. (collective) The people of the Netherlands, or one of certain ethnic groups descending from the people of the Netherlands.

   The Dutch will vote on the matter next month.

   In upstate New York, the Dutch continued to speak their language into the nineteenth century.

2. (collective, South Africa, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) Afrikaner people (Cape Dutch).
3. (collective) The Pennsylvania Dutch people.

Verb

Dutch (third-person singular simple present Dutches, present participle Dutching, simple past and past participle Dutched)

1. To treat cocoa beans or powder with an alkali solution to darken the color and lessen the bitterness of the flavor.
   • 2015, Deb Wise, Incredibly Decadent Desserts: 100 Divine Treats Under 300 Calories:

     Dutch processed is made from cocoa beans that have been treated with an alkalized solution. You'll get a deeper color and a great chocolaty flavor, but more importantly, the process of Dutching the chocolate renders the powder neutral.

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Dutch terms
• Appendix:Dutch Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Dutch

Further reading

• Dutch - English Dictionary: from Webster's Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition.
• ISO 639-1 code nl, ISO 639-3 code nld (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Dutch, nld ⁠