beroven

Forms

beroven^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch berôven, formed from Dutch be- + roven (“to rob”).^[2][3][4] Wiktionary traces it further to Old Dutch *birōvon and Proto-Germanic *biraubōną (“to bereave, to take away”).^[1] The same formation is Middle Low German berōven and Middle High German berouben, and Gothic has 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (biraubōn, “to rob”).^[5][6]

The simple verb roven goes back to *raubōn-, made from *rauba-, the source of roof “loot”; the original meaning was probably “a tear, a hole”, which the related Old Norse rauf (“hole, tear”) keeps.^[6] It belongs by ablaut to *reufan- (“to tear”) and is related to Latin rumpō (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *reup- (“to break, to tear”).^[6] The Germanic verb was borrowed as Old French rober, the source of English rob.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch berouen is first recorded in 1240 in Limburg, glossing Latin depredari “to plunder”, beside roef for depredatio.^[2] A West Flemish text of 1285 tells of murderers who robbed a man.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the verb took a person as object, “to rob”, or a land or city, “to plunder” (1285).^[2] It could also have the stolen thing as object, as in provisions taken from the Frisians (1343), and mean “to deprive”, as of a man whose teeth were all lost to old age (1326); the thing taken stood in the genitive, later replaced by van.^[5]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal records the plundering of a town in older Dutch (1574) and a freer use for depriving someone of anything, without real theft: van zijn verstand berooven “to drive out of his mind” (1526), van het leven berooven “to kill” (1660), van zijne vrijheid berooven (1785).^[7] Modern Dutch has zich van het leven beroven “to take one's own life” and van zijn zinnen beroofd “out of one's mind”.^[8]

Danish berøve and Norwegian berøve come from Dutch or Low German.^[9]

Timeline

• 1240 – Middle Dutch berouen is first recorded, glossing Latin depredari, in Limburg.^[2]
• 1285 – The verb is used of plundering a land and a city.^[2]
• 1326 – Beroven “to deprive” is recorded.^[5]
• 1343 – It is used with the stolen goods as object.^[5]
• 1526 – Van gheeste berooft “out of one's mind” is recorded.^[7]
• 1574 – The verb is used of plundering a town.^[7]
• 1660 – Van 't leven berooft “killed” is recorded.^[7]
• 1785 – Beroofd van myne vryheid “deprived of my freedom” is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rob (someone), to steal from.^[8][1][7]
2. To deprive (someone of something), with van.^[1][4][7]

Word family

• beroving
• berover

Related words

• roven
• roof

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b c d 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
9. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)