familie

Forms

familie f (plural families, no diminutive)^[1] The less refined forms famielje and famille follow French pronunciation.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch familie, borrowed from Latin familia (“household, including the slaves”), formed from famulus (“servant”), whose further origin is unknown.^[4][5][6] The Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek and De Vries see French famille as the intermediary, and Franck and Van Wijk leave open whether it came straight from Latin or through French.^[7][8][9] Van Haeringen points to lasting contact with the French word, seen in the forms ⟨famielje⟩ and ⟨famille⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record, from Brabant in 1291, uses familie for the servants of a household: in a Gospel passage the faithful steward is set over his master's familie.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Among the Romans the word took in all the members of a household together with its slaves, and medieval Latin used it in the same way.^[4] Middle Dutch familie meant the household with its staff or a lord's retinue, as in a text of 1350–1384 about men armed met menechten van haren familien, and also a household as a unit (1390–1410); this sense was obsolete by the 16th century.^[4][7] In 1389 a text from Uccle already uses it for relatives.^[4]

Only after the Middle Ages did French restrict the word to the members of the family, and Dutch followed; from there the sense widened again to all blood relatives.^[4] Van der Sijs links the sense “nuclear family” with English family.^[10] The sense “household, family” is dated 1566–1568, when a man is to come and live in a town met zijn huijsvrauwe ende familie.^[11][12] De Heilige Familie is the Christ child with Mary and Joseph, especially as a painted subject.^[12][13] In biology a family is a group of genera within an order.^[13][14]

The word was taken into Indonesian as famili or pamili, into several Malay varieties, Javanese, Sranan Tongo (famiri), Saramaccan, Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch.^[15][1] Afrikaans has familie.^[1]

Timeline

• 1291 – Familie “servants” in a Brabant Gospel text.^[6][5]
• 1350–1384 – Familie “retinue”.^[4]
• 1389 – Familie “relatives” in a text from Uccle.^[4]
• 1553 – Familie “household; lineage”.^[4]
• 1566–1568 – Familie “wife and children”.^[11][12]
• 1765 – The form Famielie.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. family, household: parents and their children.^[13][1]
2. relatives, all the people related to someone by blood: Op de bruiloft was de hele familie.^[13][1][14]
3. (biology) A family, a taxon made up of one or more genera within an order.^[13][1][14]

Word family

• familielid
• familienaam
• familiebedrijf
• familieband
• familiefeest
• familiegeheim
• familieleven
• schoonfamilie
• onderfamilie
• superfamilie

Related words

• gezin
• English family
• French famille
• German Familie

Usage notes

Dat komt in de beste families voor is said to console someone over a mistake or a failing, and van goede familie zijn means to be of good birth.^[13][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
3. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 125
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
6. ^ a b c 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 Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
12. ^ a b c d e 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
13. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)