hoeden

Forms

hoeden^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch hoeden, inherited from Old Dutch huoden, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hōdijan (“to shelter, guard”).^[2][1][3] The same verb is Old Saxon hōdian, Old High German huoten (modern German hüten), Old Frisian hōda and Old English hēdan (modern English heed); it is found only in West Germanic.^[2][4][5] It belongs with the noun hoede “guard, care”, and Van Veen and De Vries derive the verb from it, while the EWN finds it impossible to say whether the verb or the noun came first.^[6][4][2][3]

Outside West Germanic there are no certain relatives, unless hoed “hat” is one.^[2] A root Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to cover, protect”) has been reconstructed, but the EWN notes that a voiceless consonant followed by an aspirate is unusual in such a root and thinks a substrate word more likely.^[2][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century have Sterke min te thi sal ik huodan “my strength I will keep for you”, in the sense “to guard, protect”.^[3][6][8] The sense “to tend, look after” follows in Old Dutch texts from Egmond of about 1100.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used the verb widely: to protect a person, often with van for the danger (Ghent, 1236), to guard a thing, to cover a chess piece, and to keep animals; a Limburg glossary of about 1240 explains Latin mulio as de hudet mule “he who tends mules”.^[9][5] The reflexive zich hoeden “to beware of, to guard against” and God hoede “God forbid” are recorded from the 16th and 17th centuries.^[10] The verb was more common in Middle Dutch than now; for “to protect” modern Dutch mostly uses behoeden.^[2]

Dialects have heu(j)en, hûjen and hu(d)en.^[10] Afrikaans has hoed.^[1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Huodan “to guard” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[3][8]
• c. 1100 – Old Dutch huodet “takes care” is used in texts from Egmond.^[3]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch hoeden “to protect” is recorded in Ghent.^[9][2]
• c. 1240 – De hudet mule “he who tends mules” glosses Latin mulio.^[9]
• 1573 – Godt hoedt my daer af “God keep me from it” is recorded.^[10]
• 1655 – Hoet u van de spijs die swaer is om verteren “beware of food that is hard to digest”.^[10]
• 1676 – An ordinance forbids herding sheep on burnt heathland.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To guard, to protect.^[11][10]
2. To tend or herd animals while they graze.^[11][1][10]
3. (reflexive) zich hoeden voor: to beware of, to guard against.^[1][10][12]

Word family

• behoeden
• hoeder
• verhoeden

Related words

• hoede
• English heed
• German hüten

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 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 e f Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
12. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org