idee

Forms

idee n (plural ideeën, diminutive ideetje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch idee, borrowed from Old French idee, from Latin idea (“idea, archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “appearance, form, notion”).^[2][1][3] French had the word from 1119, with the spelling ⟨ydee⟩ recorded in 1370.^[2] The Greek noun belongs to ἰδεῖν (ideîn, “to perceive, see”), originally the aorist infinitive of εἴδω (eídō, “to see, (perfect) to know”), a verb related to weten.^[2][1][4]

The philosophical term of Plato's doctrine of ideas was probably taken straight from Latin and was usually written with a capital.^[2] When the meaning later moved towards “notion, thought”, the spelling ⟨idée⟩ shows the influence of French.^[2] The Middle Dutch dictionary explains the neuter gender, beside the older feminine, by the influence of the native denkbeeld.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Middle Dutch ydee in a text of 1465 that speaks of de proper beilde ende ydee Gods, “the very image and idea of God”.^[2][5] The Chronologisch woordenboek dates the sense “mental image, notion” to 1485.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word kept close to Plato: it was the perfect image of a person or thing, as in a text of 1569 on the image of the pure Virgin, a model or pattern (1620), and also a phantom in a dream (1612) or an artist's set of pictures (1617).^[2][6] Poets used it in praise of ladies: in 1653 Vondel called Queen Christina of Sweden D'Idea van den Deught en Schoonheid, “the Idea of Virtue and Beauty”.^[2]

The sense “thought, notion” came forward in the 18th century.^[3][9] It is already found in 1698 in er geen idée van maaken, “not to imagine it so”, after which the word came to mean an opinion (vreemde idées, 1784) and a plan (naar heur idée, 1842).^[2][6] The exclamation geen idee! first meant “nothing will come of it!” (1912); as a shortening of daar heb ik geen idee van it now means “I have no idea”, recorded in 1986.^[2]

Dutch passed the word on to Indonesian (ide, also idé), Manado Malay, Minangkabau and Surinamese Javanese (idhé).^[10][1]

Timeline

• 1465 – Middle Dutch ydee “idea, image” of God.^[2][5]
• 1485 – First date of the sense “notion, mental image”.^[7][8]
• 1569 – D'Idee Van de reyn Maeghdt, the perfect image of the pure Virgin.^[2][6]
• 1612 – The plural Iden for phantoms seen in a dream.^[2][6]
• 1653 – Vondel calls Queen Christina the Idea of virtue and beauty.^[2]
• 1698 – Er geen idée van maaken, “not to imagine it”.^[2][6]
• 1784 – Vreemde idées “strange opinions”.^[2][6]
• 1912 – Geen idee! “nothing doing!”.^[2]
• 1986 – Geen idee! “I have no idea”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An idea, a thought or notion: ik had geen idee dat het zo laat was.^[11][1][4]
2. A plan, an idea for doing something: een goed idee voor de vakantie.^[11][4]
3. (philosophy) An idea in Plato's sense, the eternal and perfect pattern of a thing, as the mind conceives it.^[11][1][6]

Word family

• ideeënbus
• ideetje

Related words

• ideëel
• ideaal
• idool
• idylle
• weten
• English idea
• French idée

Usage notes

Idee is usually neuter (het idee), but the dictionaries also allow de idee, which is the older use and survives in philosophy and in a higher style.^[11][12][6] The plural is ideeën.^[1] Geen flauw idee hebben is to have no idea at all, and het gaat om het idee excuses something that has not quite come off.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 173
10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
11. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
12. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org