kruis

Forms

kruis n (plural kruizen or kruisen, diminutive kruisje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch crûce, inherited from Old Dutch *krūci, borrowed from Latin crux (“cross”), an early Germanic loan of the word for the cross on which Christ died.^[2][1][3] The source was the accusative ⟨crucem⟩, borrowed with Christianity at a time when Latin ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ was already pronounced /ts/, as a Romance *cruce.^[4][5][6] Franck–Van Wijk stress that it is not a learned loan.^[5] The Latin word is of uncertain origin: the EWN mentions a possible link with rug, and Ernout and Meillet assume a loan from an unknown language of southern Europe.^[2]

The same loan is Old Saxon krūci, Old High German krūzi (modern German Kreuz), Old Frisian kriūze and Old English crūc.^[2][4] English cross and Old Norse kross have another route: Old Irish croch took the Latin word early, Middle Irish cross spread with the Irish mission to Old English and thence to the North.^[4][5][2] Gothic used its own word, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌲𐌰 (galga), and Old English also gealga and rōd.^[4][5] The Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek notes that Middle Dutch alone partly kept the feminine gender of the Latin word, using ⟨cruce⟩ as both feminine and neuter.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Old Dutch place name Crucilo (Kruiselt near Losser, Overijssel), literally “grove by a cross or crossing”, from the end of the 10th century.^[2][3] The common noun follows in the Willeram paraphrase of about 1100, an themo cruce “on the cross”, the cross of Christ.^[2]

Semantic evolution

According to the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, cruce first named only the crossbeam to which the condemned man was nailed and on which he was hoisted, while the upright post had other names; gradually it came to mean the whole instrument.^[7] De Vries and De Tollenaere add that the word could also mean “gallows”.^[6] In Middle Dutch it was above all Christ's cross: a glossary of 1240 renders Latin crux and patibulum with it, and feast days such as the Exaltation of the Cross on 14 September were named after it.^[8][2] It also meant an image of a cross (karles cruce “the cross of Lorraine”, 1220–1240), the sign of the cross (maecte een cruce, 1276–1300) and a cross-shaped mark, such as the three crosses on English cloth in 1284.^[2][8]

Since Christ carried his own cross, kruis came to mean a person's suffering or trial, het kruis dragen (1557), with proverbs such as elk huis heeft zijn kruis “every house has its cross”.^[9][10] The cross stamped on coins gave kruis “obverse, heads” (a gulden met Sinte Andries cruys, 1548) and the game kruis of munt, already Middle Dutch cruce ende munte.^[9][11] From the shape came the anatomical uses, the lower back and the croup of a horse, the crotch of trousers, and the sign for a sharp in music.^[9][12] People also swore by the cross;^[13] gans kruis is a disguised form of Gods kruis.^[13]

The verb kruisen meant “to crucify” in Middle Dutch (1240); kruisigen, found once in Old Dutch, returned in Bible translations under German influence (1525) and replaced kruisen in that sense during the 17th century.^[2] Through the Dutch or Low German word, Danish has kryds and Swedish kryss, and Indonesian borrowed kres for the lower back.^[14] The word lives on in Afrikaans kruis and Negerhollands kroes.^[1]

Timeline

• 991–1000 – The place name Crucilo contains the word.^[2][3]
• c. 1100 – An themo cruce “on the cross” appears in the Willeram paraphrase.^[2]
• 1220–1240 – Karles cruce “the cross of Lorraine” is recorded.^[2][8]
• 1240 – Cruce glosses Latin crux and patibulum.^[8][2]
• 1284 – A cross is a mark on English cloth.^[2][8]
• 1548 – The cross on a coin is named.^[9]
• 1557 – Het opgelegde cruys is a trial to be borne patiently.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cross: a figure formed by two beams or lines that cross each other.^[12][1]
2. A cross as an instrument of execution, an upright post with a crossbeam, especially the cross of Christ.^[12][9]
3. The cross as a symbol of Christianity.^[9][15]
4. (figurative) A burden, affliction, something hard to bear.^[9][1][15]
5. The crotch: where the legs meet, or where the legs of a garment meet.^[12][1]
6. The croup or lower back of a horse, donkey and the like.^[12]
7. (music) A sharp, the sign that raises a note by a semitone.^[12][1]
8. The obverse of a coin, heads.^[1][9]
9. A military decoration in the shape of a cross.^[15]

Word family

• kruisen
• kruisigen
• kruiser
• kruiselings
• kruisbeeld
• kruisboog
• kruisteken
• kruistocht
• kruisvaarder
• kruisweg
• kruisbestuiving
• kruisverhoor
• hakenkruis
• andreaskruis

Related words

• Latin crux
• German Kreuz
• English cross

Usage notes

Kruis of munt is the Dutch for heads or tails;^[11] Van Veen explains it from the cross that appeared on one side of almost every medieval coin.^[11] Iemand het heilig kruis nageven is to be relieved at someone's departure; it comes from making the sign of the cross behind someone leaving, originally the devil, so that he would not return.^[11][12][10] The plural is kruizen or kruisen.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
4. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 213
7. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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
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 Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
12. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ a b Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org