boeg

Forms

boeg m (plural boegen, diminutive boegje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch boech, inherited from Old Dutch *buog, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *bōgu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *bōgu- (“shoulder, upper arm”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon bōg “shoulder”, Old High German buog (modern German Bug), Old English bōg “shoulder, arm, branch” (modern English bough) and Old Norse bógr “shoulder, foreleg”.^[2][3][4] Outside Germanic it is related to Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus, “forearm”) and the Tocharian words for “arm”, Tocharian A poke and Tocharian B pokai, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂gʰu- (“elbow, forearm”), whose further connections are unknown.^[2][4][1] Kroonen relates the Germanic word to the words behind boezem and boom¹.^[3]

There is no link with buigen “to bend”, whose vowel belongs to another ablaut series, although Winschoten in 1681 still derived the word from it.^[2][5][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is a Limburg glossary of about 1240, which renders Latin armus “shoulder, foreleg” by boech; the sense was the foreleg or shoulder of an animal.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch boech meant the shank, especially the foreleg, of an animal: a Flemish text of 1301 speaks of the shoulder of a sheep.^[9] The nautical sense appears in the compound boechline “bowline” in 1466, and Kiliaan in 1599 gives boech for the sides of a ship towards the stem.^[2][10] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal ascribes the transfer to the old comparison of a ship with a horse, as in other names of ship's parts; it is found only in Dutch, Low and High German, the Scandinavian languages and English.^[5] Kiliaan's variants boecht and bocht show confusion with bocht “bend”.^[2][5]

Many sailors' phrases became general idioms: iets voor de boeg hebben “to have something ahead of one”, of time to come or of an unpleasant task, and het over een andere boeg gooien “to change tack, try another approach”.^[11][12][6] The old sense lives on for the shoulder joint and chest of a horse or cow.^[5][13]

Dutch or Low German lent the ship sense to English (bow, about 1600), to German Bug, Danish bov, Norwegian baug, Swedish bog and Finnish buuki.^{[4][14][15][2]}

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Boech glosses Latin armus in a Limburg glossary.^[8][2]
• 1301 – A Flemish text speaks of dbouch, the shoulder of a sheep.^[9]
• 1466 – The compound boechline “bowline” shows the nautical sense.^[2]
• 1599 – Kiliaan records boech as the front part of a ship;^[2][10] Van der Sijs dates the ship sense from here.^[2][10]
• 1681 – Winschoten lists sailors' phrases such as voor de boeg komen and op een anderen boeg wenden.^[6]
• 1891 – Dat akkevietje heb-je nog voor den boeg “that little job still lies ahead of you” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) The bow of a ship: either of the two forward sides of the hull at the stem.^[12][1][5]
2. (rowing) The rower who sits at the bow.^[12]
3. The shoulder joint of a horse or cow; by extension its chest.^[5][13]

Word family

• boegspriet
• ziekenboeg
• boegbeeld
• boeggolf

Related words

• English bough
• German Bug

Usage notes

Een schot voor de boeg is a warning shot fired just past a ship's bow, and figuratively a warning that something may have serious consequences.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
7. ^ Pluim, T. (1911), Keur van Nederlandsche woordafleidingen, Purmerend: Muusses
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
12. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
14. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)