baas

Forms

baas m (plural bazen, diminutive baasje n, feminine bazin)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch baes, from a Germanic base that the EWN reconstructs as Proto-Germanic *basa-, of unknown origin.^[2][3][4][5] Its relatives are late Middle Low German bās (“overseer of dike works”) and Old Frisian bas (“master”) (modern West Frisian baas); Van Haeringen takes the Low German word as a borrowing from Dutch.^[2][6] No cognates are known in other Indo-European languages, and the EWN thinks it is probably a word from a non-Indo-European substrate.^[2] Wiktionary reconstructs Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”) and Proto-Germanic *baswô (“paternal uncle, kinsman”), perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *bō- (“father, older male relative”).^[1]

A link with Old High German basa (“father's sister”) (modern German Base “female cousin”) has often been proposed; the EWN calls it doubtful and Franck–Van Wijk improbable.^[2][5][3] Bugge explained ⟨basa⟩ as a nursery shortening of a compound of “father” and “sister”, and the WNT and Vercoullie allowed that ⟨baas⟩ could have been formed in the same way from a compound with “father”.^[7][8] Holthausen's derivation from a compound ⟨*bātesman⟩, with baat “profit”, is improbable.^[6] A comparison with ⟨bassa⟩ “pasha” was dismissed as early as 1856.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears as a personal name: pieter.f. baes in Bruges in 1280, and baes van dauerlo among the aldermen of Bruges in 1293; the VMNW takes it as a Middle Dutch form of the Germanic man's name Baso.^[9][2][10] As a common noun it is first found in ten base “to the head of the family” (1380–1425), where young wolves run to the master of the house to eat.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

The original sense, the WNT says, was the head of a household, to whom the whole household, its animals included, was subject;^[7][2][5] Kiliaan glosses it as herus, paterfamilias, and the EWN gives his sense as “friend and master, head of the family” (1599).^[7][2][5] The word was very rare in Belgian Middle Dutch but common in Holland and in Low German.^[7]

From the head of the household it became a word for addressing an older man, later only one of lower rank (1623), and in the diminutive baasje a little boy (1857) or a little elderly man; because the household's animals also had a master, it came to mean the owner of an animal, especially a dog (1800).^[7] De vrouw is baas, “the wife is the boss”, of the one who rules the house, is recorded in 1784.^[7] Today it is anyone in authority, an employer, the owner of a business or of a pet.^[12][13]

English took the word in North America: work base “foreman” is recorded in 1649 and the basses house in 1653, and the spelling boss from 1803, on the model of words whose ⟨o⟩ American English pronounces unrounded.^[2] Etymonline records Dutch baas in English from the 1620s as the title of a Dutch ship's captain.^[14] The word also went to German Baas in seafaring, to Danish, Norwegian and Swedish bas “foreman”, and through Afrikaans to English baas.^[15][2][3]

Timeline

• 1280 – Pieter.f. baes is recorded as a name in Bruges.^[9][2][10]
• 1380–1425 – Ten base “to the head of the family”.^[2]
• 1555 – Het schijnt dat den baes van dwijf nu swicht “it seems the master now gives way to the wife”.^[7]
• 1599 – Kiliaan glosses baes as “friend and master, head of the family”.^[2]
• 1620s – Dutch baas appears in English as the title of a Dutch ship's captain.^[14]
• 1623 – Baesje is used to address a man.^[7]
• 1649 – American English work base “foreman”.^[2]
• 1784 – De Vrouw is baas van 't huis “the wife is master of the house”.^[7]
• 1800 – Baas is used of a dog's owner.^[7]
• 1803 – The English spelling boss is recorded.^[2]
• 1857 – Baasje is used to address a little boy.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Someone with authority, a superior; a boss.^[12][13][1]
2. The owner of a business; an employer.^[12][13][1]
3. The owner or master of a pet, especially a dog.^[12][13]
4. (informal) A man, a fellow; in the diminutive baasje a little boy.^[12][1][7]
5. Someone who is the best at something; an expert.^[13][1]
6. (Belgium) A strong, tough man.^[1]

Word family

• baasje
• bazin
• bazig
• baasschap
• huisbaas
• onderbaas
• opperbaas
• koppelbaas
• ploegbaas
• vechtersbaas
• zetbaas
• eindbaas

Related words

• English boss

Usage notes

Eigen baas zijn is to be one's own master, self-employed;^[12] iemand de baas blijven is to keep someone under control; and zo druk als een klein baasje means very busy.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 57
5. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
9. ^ a b Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
12. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ a b c d e Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)