ijs

Forms

ijs n (uncountable, diminutive ijsje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ijs, inherited from Old Dutch *īs, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *īs, inherited from Proto-Germanic *īsan (“ice”), a neuter noun.^[2][1] The same word is Old Saxon īs, Old High German īs (modern German Eis), Old Frisian īs (modern West Frisian iis) and Old English īs (modern English ice), while Old Norse íss (modern is) continues the masculine *īsaz.^[2][3][4]

No relatives outside Germanic are certain.^[2][5] Older dictionaries and Orel compare Iranian words such as Avestan aēxa- (“frost, ice”) and isu- (“icy”).^{[4][6][7][3][8]} The EWN finds this most unlikely.^[2] The shape of the stem would allow a reconstruction Proto-Indo-European *h₁eis-o-, but the meaning and the lack of sure cognates point rather to a North European substrate language, and Vennemann has drawn attention to Basque izoz- (“frost, ice”).^[2]

An old diminutive of the word is ijzel; ijzen “to shudder” looks like a derivative but has quite another origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch is “ice” first appears in 1240 in Limburg, glossing Latin glacies “ice”.^[9][2][10] An East Brabant text of 1276 tells of a young woman who in winter stayed long under the ice of the Meuse, where it was deepest.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the word meant ice and especially the frozen layer on water, as in datsi thijs breken “that they break the ice” (1287).^[2][9] The compound ijsberg is Middle Dutch too (1300–1325); in 1598 icebergs “as big as the salt mountains in Spain” were seen drifting.^[2] English took the word over as iceberg, first for a mass of ice on land (1774), then for a floating one (1820), while German Eisberg, Swedish isberg and Danish isbjerg translated it.^[2]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal collects the sayings: ice of one night as an image of something fragile (1643), whence niet over één nacht ijs gaan “not to act without good grounds”;^[5][11] zo koud als ijs (1627); op oud ijs vriest het licht, of an old habit or love that soon returns (1784); and het ijs breken (1734), first “to clear the way” and now “to overcome the first coldness between people”.^[5][11] A dessert of frozen fruit juice is called ys in 1793, and later the word was used for frozen cream and frozen lemonade.^[2][10] Recent senses are a smokable methamphetamine (1989) and op ijs zetten “to put on hold”.^[12][13]

The word was borrowed into Indonesian es, Javanese ès, Papiamentu eis and Sranan Tongo èisi, and lives on in Afrikaans ys.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 1240 – Middle Dutch is “ice” first appears, glossing Latin glacies, in Limburg.^[9][10]
• 1276 – An East Brabant text mentions the ice of the Meuse.^[9]
• 1287 – Thijs breken “to break the ice” is recorded.^[2]
• 1300–1325 – Middle Dutch ijsberch “iceberg” is recorded.^[2]
• 1627 – Soo kout gelijck een ys “as cold as ice” is recorded.^[5]
• 1643 – Ijs van eenen nacht serves as an image of fragility.^[5]
• 1734 – Het ys breeken “to break the ice” is recorded.^[5]
• 1774 – English borrows iceberg from Dutch.^[2]
• 1793 – Ys is used of a frozen dessert.^[2][10]
• 1989 – Ijs is used as a name for smokable methamphetamine.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. ice, frozen water.^[13][15][1]
2. The frozen top layer of a body of water.^[13][15]
3. ice cream.^[13][1][16]

Word family

• ijsvogel
• bomijs
• ijsco
• drijfijs
• ijsachtig
• ijsbeer
• ijsberg
• ijsje
• ijskast
• ijzel
• ijzig
• IJsland
• roomijs

Usage notes

Goed beslagen ten ijs komen, to come well prepared, was first said of horses shod with sharp nails for the ice.^[7][17] IJs en weder dienende means if all goes well.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 174
9. ^ a b c d e 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 Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
11. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
12. ^ a b Coster, Marc de (1999), Woordenboek van neologismen: 25 jaar taalaanwinsten, Amsterdam: Contact
13. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ a b Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
16. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
17. ^ 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