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kloppen

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Etymology and origin of the Dutch word kloppen

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1276–1300, Middle Dutch (Brabant)
Inherited from
Middle Dutch cloppen

Pronunciation

  • /ˈklɔ.pə(n)/[1]

Forms

kloppen[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch cloppen, an imitative word for a dull knocking sound.[2][1][3] Related verbs are Middle Low German kloppen, Old High German chlopfōn (modern German klopfen) and Old Frisian kloppia (modern West Frisian klopje).[4][5][3] It stands in ablaut beside klappen.[6][7] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-West Germanic *kloppōn and perhaps Proto-Germanic *kluppōną.[1]

In 1958 Otto Haas placed the group with klieven, as words from stone-working going back to the Stone Age, an idea De Vries found unconvincing.[4]

The noun klop “blow, knock; defeat” is a derivative of the verb, recorded from 1260–1280.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch cloppen is first recorded in Brabant in 1276–1300: a woman clopte … aen haer borst, beat her breast.[2][8][9] Another text has the Gospel saying clopt, ende men sal v ontpluken, “knock, and it shall be opened to you”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Most of the modern senses come straight from the sound: knocking on a door, the beating of the heart (1596), beating eggs (1599).[2][3] “To beat, thrash” (1566) widened to “to defeat”, as in a line of about 1655 about a defeat in the strait of Salamis.[2] In Catholic Holland a klopje was an unmarried woman who lived a religious life without entering an order, and kloppen could mean to live as one.[1]

The sense “to tally, be correct” is young: a text of 1886 calls it the established term for accounts that agree, and het klopt als een bus is from 1935.[2] Its origin is obscure, perhaps the regular beat of a healthy heart, and the phrase with bus follows het sluit als een bus, said of a closing argument.[2]

The verb passed into Sranan Tongo as kropu and klop, and the sense “to tally” into Indonesian as klop.[10][1] In Surinamese Dutch it also means to clap one's hands.[11]

Timeline

  • 1276–1300 – Middle Dutch cloppen “to knock, beat” in Brabant.[2][9]
  • 1566 – Geclopt “beaten” like a dog.[2]
  • 1596 – Of the heart beating in the chest.[2]
  • c. 1655 – “To defeat” in battle.[2]
  • 1886 – Kloppen “to tally” is the usual word for accounts that agree.[2]
  • 1935 – Het klopt als een bus is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To knock, to strike audibly on or against something: Er wordt op de deur geklopt.[12][1]
  2. (intransitive) Of the heart or blood vessels: to beat, to throb.[12][1]
  3. (intransitive) To be correct, to tally: Die rekening klopt niet.[12][1][13]
  4. (transitive) To strike something audibly: zich op de borst kloppen, to boast.[12]
  5. (transitive) To bring into a state by beating: een kussen opkloppen.[12][13]
  6. (transitive) To defeat, to beat in a contest.[12][1]
  7. (Suriname, vulgar) To masturbate.[1][11]

Word family

  • klop
  • klopper
  • geklop
  • aankloppen
  • afkloppen
  • opkloppen
  • uitkloppen
  • klopjacht
  • klopgeest
  • mattenklopper
  • klappen
  • German klopfen

Usage notes

Dat klopt als een bus means “that is entirely right”, and daar klopt niets van “that is all wrong”.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  6. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  7. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 198
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ a b Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  13. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
Cite this entry

“Kloppen.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/nl/kloppen. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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