Etymologically
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hoofd

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Pronunciation

Forms

hoofd n (plural hoofden, diminutive hoofdje n)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch hovet, inherited from Old Dutch hōvit, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *haubid, inherited from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”).[2][1][3] Middle Dutch ⟨hovet⟩ also became ⟨hooft⟩ by syncope and assimilation, recorded from 1285, and in Early Modern Dutch ⟨hooft⟩ was the general form.[2] A form ⟨hoot⟩ or ⟨hood⟩ is still heard in dialects of Zeeland, Holland, Brabant and Flanders.[4][5]

The Germanic forms go back to three stems.[2] Old Saxon hōƀid, Old High German houbit (modern German Haupt), Old Frisian hāved and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ) have a suffix with /i/; Old English hēafod (modern English head) and Old Norse haufuð have one with /u/; and hafud and hǫfuð (modern Swedish huvud) have a root without /u/.[2][6][7]

The only certain relative outside Germanic is Latin caput (“head”), the source of kaap.[2][7] The diphthong of most Germanic forms is unexplained: Franck–Van Wijk put it down to the influence of some other word, perhaps one related to hoop or huif, which De Vries finds unlikely.[8][6] Kroonen derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-ut- and explains the diphthong by metathesis in an old paradigm, nominative *hafuþ and genitive *habweþaz.[7][1] The Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, on the other hand, finds all Indo-European etymologies unconvincing: the vowel /a/, the alternation of /a/ and /au/, the two suffixes, the narrow spread and the meaning, a body part, suggest a loan from a pre-Indo-European language.[2] Kroonen considers such a loan unlikely because of the old paradigm.[7] The Indo-European word for “head” survives in hersenen.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century God says that Ephraim is the strength of houidis minis, “my head”, and the psalmist complains gesattos man ouir houit unsa, “you set men over our heads”.[3][2] The Rhineland rhymed Bible (1151–1200) tells how they struck off paulo that houuet, Paul's head.[3] The word is a byname in Balduinus Houete (1176) and part of a place name, the wood Swinshouet “swine's head” near Sint-Antelinks (1187).[3]

Semantic evolution

Most of the figurative senses were already in use in 13th-century Middle Dutch.[2] The Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek records “head end”, “end”, “pier”, “higher court”, “source”, “leader” and “capital city”, and the sense “leader” is dated to 1285.[9][10] The head was also the seat of thought and feeling: alsmen den dranc heeft int hoot, “when one has the drink in one's head” (1373).[4] Middle and Early Modern Dutch used hoofd for animals too, but kop took that over, except sometimes for horses.[2]

In 1681 Winschoten explained that a dam, dyke or quay built against the sea or a river was called a hoofd because the head stands firm against hardship.[11] People swore bi dijns selfs hoefde, “by your own head”, in Early Middle Dutch, and bij Gods hoofd later became a curse, found in the disguised forms bij gans hoy and bij gans hoofd.[12] Proverbs include iemand de hand boven het hoofd houden “to protect someone”, de man is het hoofd, from Ephesians, and iemand de oren van het hoofd eten “to eat someone out of house and home”, found in Bredero.[13] The slang sense “oral sex” is a semantic loan from head.[1]

Dutch hoofd passed into Danish as høfde “breakwater” and into German as Hoofden, the eastern half of the Strait of Dover;[14][1] Indonesian once had hop “foreman, chief”, and Negerhollands had hoofd.[14][1]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Houit in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[3][2][10]
  • 1151–1200 – That houuet aua slan “to strike off the head”.[3]
  • 1176 – The byname Balduinus Houete.[3]
  • 1187 – The place name Swinshouet.[3]
  • 1236 – Middle Dutch hovet in Ghent.[9][15]
  • 1285 – The sense “leader”, and the form hooft.[10][2]
  • 1681 – Winschoten explains hoofd “dam, pier”.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The head, the upper part of the body joined to the trunk by the neck: Ze schudde haar hoofd.[16][1][17]
  2. The head as the seat of thought and will;[16] uit het blote hoofd “from memory”.[16]
  3. The front or top part of something: aan het hoofd van de stoet.[16][17]
  4. A person in charge, chief: het hoofd van de afdeling.[16][1][17]
  5. A pier or breakwater built at right angles to a shore or riverbank.[1][17]
  6. (linguistics) The head word of a phrase.[17]
  7. (slang, uncountable) Oral sex.[1]

Word family

  • onthoofden
  • hoofdelijk
  • hoofdeloos
  • blootshoofds
  • eenhoofdig
  • stijfhoofdig
  • okshoofd
  • hoofdpijn
  • hoofdstad
  • hoofdzaak
  • hoofddoek
  • hoofdkussen
  • kaap
  • hersenen
  • English head
  • German Haupt

Usage notes

Iemand het hoofd bieden means “to stand up to someone” and aan het hoofd staan van “to lead”.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 g h Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  4. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  9. ^ a b 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 Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  11. ^ a b Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
  12. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  13. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  14. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  15. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 168
  16. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  17. ^ a b c d e WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org