kloot

Forms

kloot m (plural kloten, diminutive klootje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch clôot (also ⟨cloet⟩), inherited from Old Dutch *klōt, inherited from Proto-Germanic *klauta-.^[2][1][3] The same word is Old High German klōz (“lump, block”) (German Kloß (“dumpling”)), Middle Low German klōt (“lump, ball, testicle”), Old Frisian klāt (“heap of peat”), Middle English cleete (“wedge”) (modern cleat) and Swedish klot (“lump”).^[2][3][4][5]

Beside it stands a zero grade ⟨*klutta-⟩ in German Klotz (“block”) and Old English clott (“lump”), the source of English clot and clod; long-vowel forms gave kluit, and a younger nasal form gave klont.^[2][3][6] These stems share a basic sense and probably belong together, but they are hard to explain in Indo-European terms.^[2] The only likely cognates outside Germanic are Balto-Slavic, such as Lithuanian glaũsti (“to press close”) and Slovene glúta (“lump, swelling”), so the EWN thinks the group may come from a pre-Indo-European substrate.^[2] De Vries reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *gleud-.^[3] Older dictionaries derive the word with a dental suffix from the base of kluwen, a link the EWN finds unlikely.^{[6][7][8][9][2]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Limburg glossary of 1240, which renders Latin globus “ball, sphere” with cloet.^[10][2] A Brabant text of 1276–1300 says that the limbs of a saint were pressed together in enen cloet, “into a lump”.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch cloot was a general word for a lump or a round thing.^[2][11] It meant a heap of peat (1343), a ball thrown at a man (1328), a lead ball on a scourge, and, by 1419, the lead and stone balls of guns.^[11][2] In a Brabant text of 1340 mit cloten rollen “rolling balls” is a game, and in Early Modern Dutch kloot was the usual word for the ball of several ball games, remembered today in klootschieten (1628).^[11][2] The globe of the earth was den cloot ofte masse vander weerelt in 1567, and aardkloot followed.^[2]

The sense “testicle” is found in a Holland text of 1423 and is common from the middle of the 16th century.^[11][2][12] It came to dominate: the WNT notes that polite language had almost given up kloot for “ball” because of it.^[7][11] Klootzak “scrotum” (1644) became a term of abuse in the 20th century, kloten “to mess about” is recorded in 1900, and klote “lousy” in 1975.^[2] Student slang of 1899 has kloot for a dull or unpleasant person.^[13]

Danish klod and Norwegian klode “planet, the earth”, Swedish klot “ball” and Russian klot “truck of a mast” come from Dutch or Low German.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Middle Dutch cloet glosses Latin globus in a Limburg glossary.^[10][2]
• 1328 – A man is pelted with a cloot.^[11]
• 1340 – Mit cloten rollen names a ball game.^[11]
• 1419 – Loden cloten and stienen cloten are gun shot.^[2]
• 1423 – The sense “testicle” is recorded.^[11]
• 1567 – The globe of the earth is called den cloot.^[2]
• 1612 – Klootjesvolk “common people” is first recorded.^[2]
• 1628 – Klootschieten is first recorded.^[2]
• 1644 – Kloot-sack “scrotum” is first recorded.^[2]
• 1899 – Kloot is student slang for an unpleasant person.^[13]
• 1975 – Klote “lousy” is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal) An annoying, tiresome fellow; a jerk.^[15][13]
2. (informal, vulgar) A testicle.^[15][1]
3. (dated) A ball, sphere or lump.^[1][7]

Word family

• klootjesvolk
• klootzak
• klote
• kloten
• aardkloot
• klootschieten
• kloterig
• droogkloot
• donderkloot

Related words

• kluit
• klont
• English cleat
• German Kloß

Usage notes

Zijn kloten afdraaien voor iemand, from cycling, is to work oneself to exhaustion for someone, and met de kloten voor het blok zitten is to be in a position with no way out.^[15] Winschoten (1681) records de kloot rolt nog “the ball is still rolling”: the matter is not over yet.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ 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. 198
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
13. ^ a b c Coster, Marc de (2007), Groot scheldwoordenboek: van apenkont tot zweefteef, Antwerpen: Standaard
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
16. ^ 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