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Etymology and origin of the Dutch word hoop

hoop1 heap

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
901–1000, Wachtendonck Psalms (in the verb hopon)
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *haupaz via Middle Dutch, Old Dutch
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *haupaz

Pronunciation

Forms

hoop m (plural hopen, diminutive hoopje n)[1]

Etymology

The heap is inherited from Middle Dutch hoop, inherited from Old Dutch *hōp, inherited from Proto-Germanic *haupa- (“heap, pile”).[2][1][3] Old Dutch has it first in the derived verb hōpon (“to heap up”) of the 10th century, and then as ⟨houph⟩ “heap” around 1100.[2][4] The same word is Old Saxon hōp, Old High German houf, Old Frisian hāp and Old English hēap (modern English heap), all “heap, pile”.[2][5][3] Beside it stands a form with another vowel grade, Proto-Germanic *hūpan-, in Middle Low German hūpe and Old High German hūfo (modern German Haufen).[2][5][4]

The further origin is uncertain.[2] The word is usually traced to the root Proto-Indo-European *keub- (“to bend, curve”) that is also seen in heup, but the EWN finds that the non-Germanic words compared under heuvel, such as Lithuanian kaũpas (“heap”) and Avestan kaofa (“mountain ridge, hump”), fit the meaning much better.[2][4][5] Kroonen sets up *kouHp-nó- for the Germanic noun.[3] If all these words belong together, the differences of form cannot be explained within Proto-Indo-European, and the EWN considers a source in a pre-Indo-European language.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms the derived verb hōpon appears, and a text of about 1100 has houph “heap”.[2] Middle Dutch has the phrase te hope “together” in 1201–1225, and in 1240 a Limburg glossary renders Latin strues “heap, pile” as hoep.[2][6] In 1285 a Flemish rhymed Bible tells how the birds all came together ouer eenen hop, “in one flock”, and of a great heap of stones on a man.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

From a pile of things the word was applied to groups of animals and people: a flock, a herd, a band of soldiers (1285).[6][7] From the 17th century it also meant simply “a large amount”, as in een hoope geld (1691), and since 1605 it has also meant a dropping of dung.[2][7][8] The heap of a mole, of rubble or of manure gave compounds such as molshoop, puinhoop and mesthoop.[8]

Overhoop, literally “one heap upon another”, means in disorder; with verbs such as lopen or schieten it meant to knock someone down.[9] The saying de duivel schijt altijd op de grootste hoop remarks that good fortune goes to those who are already rich.[10][8] The seaman Winschoten explains a hooplooper as an inexperienced sailor added to the common crowd of the crew.[11]

The word was borrowed into Scots (obsolete hope “heap”), into Danish, Norwegian and Swedish (from Dutch or Low German), into Negerhollands and into Papiamentu (Papiamentu hoopi “a lot, heap”).[12][1] French houppe (“tuft”) may come from the Middle Dutch word.[5][12]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – The Old Dutch verb hōpon “to heap up” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Houph “heap”.[2]
  • 1201–1225 – Middle Dutch te hope “together”.[2]
  • 1240 – Hoep glosses Latin strues in Limburg.[2][6]
  • 1285 – Hop “flock” and “band of soldiers”.[2][6][7]
  • 1605 – “Dropping, dung”.[7][8]
  • 1642 – “A large amount”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A heap, a pile of things or of a substance.[10][13][1]
  2. (informal) A large amount, a lot: een hoop werk;[10][13][1] hoop en al, all told, no more than.[10][13][1]
  3. A crowd, a mass of people;[13][10][1] de grote hoop, the masses.[13][10][1]
  4. A dropping, a heap of dung.[10][1]
  5. (obsolete) A band of soldiers.[6][1]

Word family

  • ophopen
  • aardhoop
  • mesthoop
  • mierenhoop
  • molshoop
  • puinhoop
  • zandhoop
  • schroothoop
  • termietenhoop

hoop2 hope

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1236, Middle Dutch (Ghent)
Inherited from
Old Dutch *hopa via Middle Dutch
Ultimate origin
Old Dutch hopon

Pronunciation

Forms

hoop f (uncountable, no diminutive)[1]

Etymology

The noun of hoping is inherited from Middle Dutch hope, inherited from Old Dutch *hopa, probably formed from the verb hopen, hopon (“to strive for, desire”), although the verb may also have been formed from the noun.[2][1][14] Old Dutch has only the prefixed tohopa (“hope, refuge”).[2][4] The same noun is Middle Low German hōpe, Old Frisian hope and Old English hopa, beside older tōhopa (modern English hope).[2][4][15] Middle Low German lent the verb to Middle High German (modern German hoffen) and the noun and verb to Swedish (Swedish hopp) and Danish (Danish håb).[2][4]

Its further origin is unclear.[2][8] The Dutch and English verbs are the oldest records, and the words may have been brought to the continent as Christian terms by the Anglo-Saxon mission, replacing an older word Proto-Germanic *wēn- (“hope, expectation”) (see waan).[2][15] A link with Latin cupiō (“to desire”) has been proposed, but the unshifted ⟨p⟩ is a problem.[2] Sanders instead thinks of an old northwestern word meaning “to start up (in fright or curiosity)”, from the root of huppelen, citing German hunters' verhoffen (“to stop and look round, of game”);[2][15][5] Van Haeringen and NEW find such explanations unconvincing.[2][15][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms call God tohopa min, “my hope, my refuge”.[2] Middle Dutch hope is first recorded in a rule of 1236 from Ghent, in the phrase dor de hope dat, “in the hope that”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

By the 13th century the word was used with adjectives for kinds of hope, such as false hope (1270), and for the hope of eternal life.[6] Older writers also used the plural for several hopes at once, sometimes as a Latinism.[8] The anchor became the emblem of hope, and De Hoop was a common name for houses, farms and ships.[8] Anglers said they had hoop when a fish bit.[8]

Geloof, hoop en liefde, faith, hope and love, are the three Christian virtues of 1 Corinthians 13:13.[10] De hoop van het vaderland, the young generation, translates Latin spes patriae, and tussen hoop en vrees “between hope and fear” is Latin inter spem et metum.[16][10] The proverb zolang er leven is, is er hoop renders the Latin dum spiro spero;[9] Goedthals gave it as soo langhe alsser asem inden mensche is, isser hope aen in the 16th century.[9]

Dutch passed the word to Sranan Tongo (Sranan Tongo howpu), and Danish took håb from Dutch or Low German.[12]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch tohopa “hope, refuge” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2]
  • 1236 – Middle Dutch hope, in Ghent.[2][6]
  • 1240 – Hope “expectation” in a Limburg glossary.[7][17]
  • 1573 – Kleyn hope, “little hope”.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. hope, the wish and expectation that something good will happen: de hoop opgeven.[10][13][1]
  2. The person or thing in which one puts one's hope.[10][13]

Word family

  • hopen
  • hopeloos
  • hopelijk
  • hoopvol
  • hoopgevend
  • wanhoop
  • heup
  • heuvel
  • huppelen
  • English heap
  • English hope

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  7. ^ a b c d e Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  9. ^ a b c Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  11. ^ 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. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  14. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  15. ^ a b c d Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  16. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
  17. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org

Related etymologies

  • voor · also from Proto-Germanic
  • kunnen · also from Proto-Germanic
  • zullen · also from Proto-Germanic
  • weten · also from Proto-Germanic
  • willen · also from Proto-Germanic
  • als · also from Proto-Germanic
  • doen · also from Proto-Germanic
  • met · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“Hoop.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/nl/hoop. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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