dier

Forms

dier n (plural dieren, diminutive diertje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch dier, inherited from Old Dutch dier, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, inherited from Proto-Germanic *deuzą (“(wild) animal”).^[1][2][3] The same word is Old Saxon dior “wild animal”, Old High German tior (modern German Tier), Old Frisian diār, Old English dēor (modern English deer), Old Norse dýr and Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃 (dius, “wild animal”).^[2][3][4]

Its origin is disputed.^[5][2][3] Franck–Van Wijk, De Vries and Van Veen & Van der Sijs connect it with a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰeu̯es- (“to breathe”), seen in Lithuanian dvasià (“breath, spirit”) and Latvian dvēsele (“breath, soul”), so that the word would first have meant “breathing, living being”, as Latin animal comes from anima (“breath, soul”).^[5][4][6][7] Wiktionary reconstructs *dʰewsóm (“having breath; animal”) along these lines.^[1] The EWN objects that the Germanic forms point to *dʰeus-, not *dʰues-, and that the root meant rather “to breathe heavily, to blow up dust”; a comparison with bestia (“beast”) gives no Indo-European explanation either, so it takes the word as isolated, probably from a substrate.^[2] Kroonen sets up *dʰeus-ó- and ties the noun closely to the Old English adjective meaning “wild, bold”, from a root meaning “to lose one's senses”, hence “to be wild”.^[3] The WNT and Franck–Van Wijk likewise suggest a noun made from an adjective.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch dier first appears in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, in the plural for “wild animals”: refang dier riedis “rebuke the beasts of the reed”.^[2][9][10] Middle Dutch dier is found in a Lower Rhine text of 1220, and a Limburg glossary of 1240 uses it for Latin fera “wild animal”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the word meant a living creature, mostly as opposed to man, and could be narrowed to a four-footed animal, a beast of prey, or, like English deer, a deer (een dier vellen “to fell a deer”, 1340).^[12] Texts of 1285 set animals beside birds and fishes.^[11] The general sense “beast” is dated by the EWN to 1287.^[2]

From the 15th century dier was also used affectionately of a girl or young woman, jonck dier (1481); the use was common in the 17th century and now sounds coarse.^[12][8] It could also be said of children (1635), and as a term of abuse for a person without human feeling, a use now taken over by beest.^[8] In the modern language it is above all the word of biology, a living being that breathes in oxygen.^[8][13]

Politiek dier translates Greek politikon zōion, and alle dieren zijn gelijk, maar sommige zijn gelijker dan andere renders English all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.^[14]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch dier “wild animals” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[10][2][9]
• 1100 – The dative plural dieron is recorded in Egmond.^[9]
• 1220 – Middle Dutch dier is recorded on the Lower Rhine.^[11]
• 1240 – Dier glosses Latin fera in Limburg.^[11]
• 1287 – Dier in the sense “beast” is recorded.^[2]
• 1340 – Dier is used of a deer.^[12]
• 1481 – Jonck dier is used of a girl.^[12]
• 1526 – The diminutive dierken is used of a young woman.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An animal, a living being that breathes in oxygen and breathes out carbon dioxide, as opposed to a plant.^[13][8][1]
2. (dated) A brutish person, as a term of abuse.^[8]
3. (dated) A girl or young woman, affectionately.^[8][12]

Word family

• dierlijk
• ondier
• huisdier
• roofdier
• knaagdier
• zoogdier
• lastdier
• dierentuin
• diergaarde
• dierenriem

Related words

• English deer
• German Tier

Usage notes

Two other words share the spelling.^[1][13] The formal demonstrative dier, genitive of the pronoun die, survives in the phrase in dier voege “in such a way”.^[13][1] The adjective dier “dear, costly” is the coastal dialect form of duur, with ⟨ie⟩ for ⟨uu⟩ as in vier “fire” and bestier “management”; in the northern Netherlands it lived on only in poetry.^[15][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 103
7. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
9. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; 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. ^ a b c d 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
12. ^ a b c d e Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
13. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
15. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2007), Zeeuws etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de Zeeuwse woorden, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas