Etymologically
Log in

landschap

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Dutch word landschap

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1240 Middle Dutch (Limburg) More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Middle Dutch lant
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Dutch landschap
English landscape

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlɑnt.sxɑp/[1]

Forms

landschap n (plural landschappen, diminutive landschapje n)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch lantscap, formed from Middle Dutch lant + -scap, the noun being modern land and the suffix modern -schap.[2][3][4] The same formation is found in Old Saxon landskepi, Old High German lantscaf (modern German Landschaft) and Old English landscipe.[5][6][7] Wiktionary reconstructs it as Proto-West Germanic *landaskapi.[1] Vercoullie thought it was not an ordinary derivation but modelled on graafschap “county”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch lantscap first appears around 1240 in a Limburg glossary, translating Latin provincia “province” and clima “climatic zone”, and as a gloss for the names of countries such as Syria.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch lantscap meant a land, realm, region or province, also one's native country, and by metonymy the people of a land, as in al dat landscap van iuda “all the people of Judah” (1285).[2][7] The sense “region, province” was later used of the Dutch provinces, and in Guelders for the provincial States; it now survives only as a historical term.[6]

From this came the narrower sense of a stretch of country seen in one view, which the Middle Dutch dictionary compares with French paysage.[7][6] A painted landscape is recorded from 1617, a sense Dutch painters made known abroad.[9][5][10] Since the early 1980s landschap has also been used in compounds such as medialandschap for a sector of public life.[11]

English took the painters' term as landscape: De Vries dates it from 1598, Etymonline to about 1600, where it served to distinguish the scenery from the subject of a painting.[10][5][12] In the Dutch East Indies landschap was the name of a self-governing native district under Dutch rule, borrowed into Indonesian as lanskap.[13][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1240 – Middle Dutch lantscap “province, region” is first recorded, in Limburg.[2][9]
  • 1285 – The word is used of the people of a land.[2]
  • 1593 – Landschap is used of a Dutch province.[6]
  • 1598 – English landscape is first recorded, according to De Vries.[10][5]
  • 1617 – The sense “painted landscape” is recorded.[9][5]
  • 1980s – Compounds such as medialandschap appear.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A landscape, a stretch of land seen in one view; the scenery as it appears: Het landschap werd steeds vlakker.[14][1]
  2. A region, tract of country;[14][1][6] (historical) a province.[14][1][6]
  3. A painting that shows a landscape.[14][15]
  4. (historical, Indonesia) A self-governing native district under Dutch rule.[1][13]

Word family

  • coulisselandschap
  • cultuurlandschap
  • landschapspijn
  • maanlandschap
  • landschapschilder
  • berglandschap
  • duinlandschap
  • heuvellandschap
  • herfstlandschap
  • winterlandschap
  • sneeuwlandschap
  • landschappelijk

Usage notes

Nationaal landschap is the name of a protected natural area.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  4. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 220
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  9. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  10. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ a b Coster, Marc de (1999), Woordenboek van neologismen: 25 jaar taalaanwinsten, Amsterdam: Contact
  12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  14. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  15. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
Cite this entry

“Landschap.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/nl/landschap. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·