gingang

Forms

gingang n (plural gingangs, for kinds of the fabric); formerly also gingan, and the spelling ginggang was proposed after the Malay and Javanese form^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Javanese ginggang, or Malay ginggang, the name of the fabric there.^[2][3][4][1] Van Veen glosses the Javanese word as “separated by a small space”.^[2] Vercoullie took it to mean “striped”, which the WNT calls an error, since the fabric is checked as well as striped;^[5][1][6] Etymonline cites both “striped” and “perishable, fading”.^[5][1][6] Others connected the name with the weaving town of Guingamp in Brittany, but the WNT holds that the cloth is more likely an Indonesian product, though its exact place of origin is unknown.^[1]

The same word is German Gingang, French guingan and English gingham.^[3][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Van Veen dates the word to 1667.^[2] The WNT's first quotation, of 1726, lists ginggangs among the cloths the Dutch brought to Pegu, beside twilled gingangs in another list of goods.^[1]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century gingang was a fine fabric; later it was also made in coarser kinds, and it is sold striped, checked or blocked.^[1] The plural gingangs names different sorts.^[1]

Etymonline derives English gingham, recorded from the 1610s, from the Dutch word, and Van der Sijs lists it with Danish gingham and Maltese gingam (both through English) and Japanese ギンガム (gingamu) among the words borrowed from Dutch.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1667 – Gingang is first recorded.^[2]
• 1726 – A list of trade goods names ginggangs and gingangs.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. gingham, a coloured fabric, usually all cotton, often striped or checked.^[1][3][2]

Related words

• English gingham

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
2. ^ a b c d e Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
3. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
5. ^ a b Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)