holster

Forms

holster m (plural holsters, diminutive holstertje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Low German holster, taken over in the single sense “pistol case”, perhaps as early as the Thirty Years' War.^[2][1] In Low German the word had many senses (shoulder bag, knapsack, pistol case, sheath, belly, the scrotum of a stallion, a small child), which the EWN takes as a sign of great age and of an original general meaning “place to keep something”.^[2] Wiktionary traces the Low German word through Middle Low German holster and an unrecorded Old Saxon *holster to Proto-Germanic *hulistrą (“covering”), formed with the suffix *-strą from the verb *huljaną.^[1][3] The same formation is Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌻𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂 (hulistr, “cover, veil”), Old English heolstor (“hiding place, darkness”) and Icelandic hulstr (“case, sheath”).^[2][3][4] It thus belongs with hullen (“to wrap, cover”) and, by ablaut, with helen (“to conceal”).^[2][5][6]

An older explanation derives ⟨holster⟩ from holfter (“case, quiver”) (1477, in the Teuthonista), the word of Middle High German hulfter and German Holfter, itself from Old High German hulft (“cover, case”).^[4][6][7] The EWN rules out a change from ⟨holfter⟩ to ⟨holster⟩ in Dutch: ⟨holfter⟩ is close in sense and differs in only one sound, but its relation to ⟨holster⟩ is unclear, and the High German word may owe its shape to halftra (“halter”) (compare halster).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The EWN finds holster “pistol case” first in 1669, in a text by Van den Ende;^[2][5][8] Van Veen & Van der Sijs and the Chronologisch woordenboek date it 1678.^[2][5][8] Franck–Van Wijk note that the word is neither Middle Dutch nor in Kiliaan.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Besides the pistol case on a rider's saddle, older Dutch used holster for a travelling bag, a sense the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal marks as obsolete.^[9][4] Regionally the word was used of a loud-mouthed or coarse woman, and in Limburg of a fat, slovenly woman, a figurative use of the “leather bag” sense.^[9][10] Today only the sense “pistol case” is current.^[4][11]

The word spread from Dutch or Low German to other languages: German Holster, Swedish hölster (from Dutch or Low German), Czech holstra through German, and Russian ol'stra.^[12][7] The EWN takes English holster and Swedish ⟨hölster⟩ as later loans from Middle Low German;^[2][7][13] De Vries dates English ⟨holster⟩ from 1663 and derives it from Dutch.^[2][7][13] Etymonline, dating it to the 1660s, thinks it may continue Old English ⟨heolster⟩, and allows a source in Norse or Dutch.^[14]

Timeline

• 1669 – Holster “pistol case” is first recorded.^[2]
• 1678 – The date Van Veen & Van der Sijs and the Chronologisch woordenboek give for the word.^[5][8]
• 1862 – The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal's oldest quotation describes a holster with a cartridge pouch lined with lambskin.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A holster, a case, usually of leather, for a pistol or other handgun.^[11][1][15]

Related words

• hullen
• helen
• English holster

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 191
4. ^ a b c d e Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
5. ^ a b c d 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 Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 166
7. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2011), Limburgs etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woorden uit beide Limburgen, Zwolle: Wbooks
11. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ a b Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
14. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org