Etymologically
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eten

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈeː.tə(n)/[1]

Forms

eten (past participle gegeten)[2][3] As a noun, het eten is neuter and uncountable, with the diminutive etentje.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch eten, inherited from Old Dutch etan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *etan, inherited from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”).[3][1][4] The same verb is Old Saxon etan, Old High German ezzan (modern German essen), Old Frisian eta, Old English etan (modern English eat), Old Norse eta (modern Swedish äta) and Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan).[3][5][4] It continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti (“eats”), from the root *h₁ed- (“to eat”), which also gave Latin edō, Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō), Lithuanian ėsti and Hittite ed-, all meaning “to eat”.[3][1][5] The Philippa dictionary thinks tand may belong to the same root.[3]

In most Germanic languages the past singular has an unusual long vowel, as in āz, ǣt and át; this Germanic ⟨*ēt-⟩ matches the Latin perfect ⟨ēdī⟩ “I have eaten”.[3] Whether Old Dutch had it is not known, because the Wachtendonck Psalms do not mark vowel length.[3] The regular participle ⟨geëten⟩ was contracted to ⟨geten⟩, still normal in Middle Dutch and many dialects.[3] From that form the standard language made a new participle ⟨gegeten⟩ with a second prefix.[3] An old compound with the prefix ⟨ver-⟩ is vreten.[3][4]

The noun ⟨het eten⟩ is usually treated as the infinitive used as a noun.[6][2][7] The Middle Dutch dictionary held it to be a separate formation with a noun suffix, pointing to a Middle Dutch plural ⟨etene⟩, and Franck–Van Wijk and De Vries match it with an Old Indic noun meaning “food”.[8][9][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch te etoni “to eat” and at “he ate” are first found in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century.[3][10] The noun appears in the Egmond Williram of about 1100, where the throat carries thaz ezzan “the food” into the belly.[7] Middle Dutch eten is recorded in a Lower Rhine text of 1201, her gaf eme to etene genueg, “he gave him enough to eat”, and in the Limburg glossary of 1240.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

In 13th-century texts the noun meant both food and the meal itself: a Ghent rule of 1236 has the bell rung when the meal is ready.[6] To eat the Passover, paschen eten, appears in 1291.[6] Figurative uses are old too: a Middle Dutch woman edt van rouwen hare herte “eats her heart out with grief”.[8]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal lists iets niet kunnen eten, not to be able to stomach a thing (1615), stokvis eten “to get a beating”, and hooi over de balk eten, to take more than one's share.[2] As a noun, eten became the everyday word for food in speech and also means the main meal, as in ten eten vragen, to invite someone to dinner.[2] Bredero has iemand de oren van het hoofd eten, to eat someone out of house and home.[11]

Afrikaans has the verb eet and the noun ete.[1] Negerhollands jeet, jit and yet passed into the English creole of the Virgin Islands, and in Petjo eten also means to take a piece at draughts.[12][1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch te etoni “to eat” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[3][10]
  • c. 1100 – The noun ezzan “food” in the Egmond Williram.[7]
  • 1201 – Middle Dutch to etene “to eat”, on the Lower Rhine.[6]
  • 1236 – Dat eten “the meal” in a Ghent rule.[6]
  • 1577 – Nae den eeten “after dinner”, of the midday meal.[2]
  • 1615 – Iets niet kunnen eten “not to stomach something”.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To eat, to take something as food: Wij eten vanavond vis.[13][14][1]
  2. (intransitive) To have a meal: Hoe laat eten jullie?[14][1]
  3. (reflexive) To get oneself into a state by eating: zich te barsten eten, to eat until one can eat no more.[14][13]

Noun

  1. food.[13][2][1]
  2. A meal, especially the main meal of the day, dinner.[13][2][1]
  3. The act of eating.[14]

Word family

  • vreten
  • avondeten
  • etenstijd
  • etenswaar
  • middageten
  • eetbaar
  • eter
  • eterij
  • vleesetend
  • menseneter
  • opeten
  • eetlust
  • tand
  • aas
  • English eat
  • German essen

Usage notes

Ergens kaas van gegeten hebben means to know about something from experience.[11] Roet in het eten gooien is to spoil someone's plans.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  9. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  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 Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  13. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  14. ^ a b c d Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org