Etymologically
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kant

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Pronunciation

Forms

kant m (plural kanten, diminutive kantje n)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch cant, borrowed from Old French cant (“side, edge”), the northern French form of the word that is ⟨chant⟩ in central Old French.[2][1][3] The Old French word probably comes from Latin canthus (“iron tyre of a wheel”).[2][4] In the western Romance languages the word is general: Medieval Latin cantus (“corner, side”), Italian canto, Spanish canto and Portuguese canto “edge, corner, side”, and Old Occitan can (“side”).[2][5]

If the Latin word belongs here, so does Ancient Greek κανθός (kanthós, “tyre”), and probably Old Church Slavonic кѫтъ (kǫtŭ, “corner”) and Lithuanian kampas (“corner”).[2] The connection with Welsh cant (“iron rim”) and Breton kant (“circle”) is unclear, though Van Veen and Van der Sijs think the Latin word was taken from Gaulish.[2][4] Kroonen argues instead for a native Germanic *kanta- (“side”), comparing German dialect Kanz and Scots cantle, and links it to Lithuanian žándas (“cheek”).[6]

Middle Low German kant was taken from Middle Dutch, and it passed on to German Kante, Swedish kant and Danish kant.[2][5] English cant (“edge”) comes from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German or northern French.[2] The East German Kanten (“heel of a loaf”) goes back to the obsolete Middle Dutch sense “piece of bread”, brought east of the Elbe by Dutch settlers in the 12th century.[2][5] The word for lace is the same noun, named after its use as edging.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears as a byname for a tailor, Lizebet Cant, in 1221, and as Jan Cant in Antwerp in 1248–1271.[2][4][8] The common noun is found in the Rijmbijbel of 1285: a tower met ysere ieghen brand wel verdect an elken cant, “well covered with iron against fire on every side”, the land tuschen den berghen ende der ze cant, “between the mountains and the shore”, and a gold band running round bouen an den cant, along the top edge.[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used cant for the edge of a jug or a roof, for the bank of a river or the shore of the sea, and for a side or region.[9][5] Enen van cante spelen, to put someone out of the way, survives in zich van kant maken, to kill oneself.[4] In kant noch wal raken, to make no sense at all, the word means “waterside”.[4] Er de kantjes aflopen, to shirk one's work, is literally to walk along the edges of it.[4][3] Een dubbeltje op zijn kant, a dime on its edge, is a matter whose outcome is uncertain.[10][11]

As the name of an openwork fabric the word is first found in the plural kanten, pieces of lace (1616), and as a mass noun in 1681.[2] German Kanten “lace” was borrowed from Dutch.[12][3]

Dutch passed the word “side, edge” to English (cant), Swedish, Finnish (kantti, through Swedish), Polish and Lithuanian (kantas), and to Negerhollands (kant), Berbice Dutch (kandi), Papiamentu (kantu), Sranan Tongo and Sarnami (kanti).[13][1]

Timeline

  • 1221 – Cant as a byname.[2]
  • 1248–1271 – Jan Cant in Antwerp.[4][8][9]
  • 1285 – Middle Dutch cant “side, edge, shore” in the Rijmbijbel.[2][9]
  • 1616 – Kanten “pieces of lace”.[2][3]
  • 1681 – Kant as the name of the fabric.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An edge, a strip along the border of something; also the bank of a water: aan de kant van het kanaal.[11][14][1]
  2. lace, a fine openwork fabric of linen thread or silk.[11][1]
  3. A side or face of an object: zet de doos op zijn kant.[11][1][14]
  4. Each of two opposite parts, an aspect: aan de ene kant … aan de andere kant, on the one hand … on the other.[11]
  5. A side in a conflict or a family: familie van de koude kant, in-laws.[11]
  6. A direction: welke kant moeten we op?.[1][15]

Word family

  • zelfkant
  • kantelen
  • kanten
  • kanteren
  • kenteren
  • bekant
  • faliekant
  • achtkant
  • achterkant
  • binnenkant
  • bovenkant
  • kantwerk
  • vierkant
  • waterkant
  • overkant
  • kanton
  • kanteel
  • English cant
  • German Kante

Usage notes

An adjective kant “ready, in order; sturdy” is recorded from 1634 and survives in kant-en-klaar, “ready for use” (1684).[2][10] The Philippa dictionary calls its origin unclear but thinks it is related to the noun, perhaps a Low German form of gekant “with planed edges” brought by sailors.[2][5]

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 c d 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  5. ^ a b c d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b c d 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 Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  11. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  12. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  14. ^ a b Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  15. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org