gort

Forms

gort m (uncountable, no diminutive)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch gorte, inherited from Proto-Germanic *grutja- (“coarsely ground”), a form with metathesis of /r/ beside grut.^[2][3][4][1] Kroonen reconstructs the feminine *grutjō- for it.^[5] The same word is Middle Low German gorte and gürte, Old High German gruzzi (modern German Grütze) and Old English grytt (modern English grits).^[2][3][5]

With other ablaut grades the family includes grot (“small particle”) (modern English groats), Old Norse grautr (“porridge”), gruit (Old Dutch grūt, 999), griet (“coarse sand”), Old Saxon griot and Old High German grioz (whence griesmeel), and English grit; gruis may come from a Frankish form of this family.^[2][3][6][7] The further etymology is unclear: the EWN thinks it probably related to Lithuanian grūdas (“grain”) and Welsh gro (“sand”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to rub to pieces”), an extension of a root for “rub”.^[2][1] Van Veen and De Vries add Latin rūdus (“rubble”).^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the personal name arnulphus gortemakere, “Arnulf the groats-maker”, in 1272; as a noun it is recorded in 1285, in van gurte, “concerning groats”.^[2][7] In 1351 melc met gortte is milk with hulled barley, a porridge.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The WNT gives as the proper sense hulled grain broken on the mill, and as the commoner sense barley that is hulled but not broken, eaten as porridge and once a staple of ships' fare.^[4] A single grain was een gort (1600), and een gortje a tiny bit.^[4] In 1588 het gort named a disease of pigs, with grains in the fat; from it comes gortig.^[4][9] In early modern Dutch gort, gruit and grut were used side by side, and it is not always clear which sense goes with which form.^[2]

Zo droog als gort was said of dull company (1865) and now means very dry;^[4][10] het in de gort jagen is to make a mess of things.^[4][10] Sranan Tongo groto “hulled barley” is from Dutch.^[11][1]

Timeline

• 1272 – The personal name gortemakere is recorded.^[2][7]
• 1285 – Middle Dutch gurte “groats” is recorded as a noun.^[2]
• 1351 – Melc met gortte, milk porridge with groats, is recorded.^[2]
• 1588 – Het gort names a disease of pigs.^[4]
• 1600 – Gorten are counted as single grains.^[4]
• 1865 – Droog als gort is said of a dull man.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. pearl barley, barley that is hulled, ground smooth and polished.^[10][1]
2. Broken barley, groats.^[10][4]

Word family

• gortig
• gortepap
• gortdroog
• gortenteller
• havergort
• parelgort

Related words

• grut
• gruit
• gruis
• griesmeel
• English groats
• German Grütze

Usage notes

Van haver tot gort kennen, “know from oats to groats”, means to know through and through.^[1] Het in de gort jagen (recorded by Harrebomée in 1858) is to make a mess of something.^[4]

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 i j 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 147
8. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
9. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
10. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)