lende

Forms

lende f (plural lenden or lendenen, diminutive lendetje n)^[1] Older Dutch also has lenden with the plurals lendens and lendenen, and the last is still used; the plural is more common than the singular, since the word means both sides of the back.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch lende, beside lendene, inherited from Old Dutch lendin, inherited from Proto-Germanic *landį̄ (“loin, kidney”).^[3][1][4] The singular ⟨lende⟩ was probably formed beside the old plural ⟨lenden⟩ of a neuter noun.^[5][6][7] The EWN gives the Germanic form as *landinō- “loin, kidney”, beside *landijō-, which gave Old Norse lend (modern Swedish länd) and, by an early loan, Finnish lantio (“hip, loin”).^[3][5]

The same word is Old Saxon lendin, Middle Low German lende, Old High German lentī and lentīn (modern German Lende), Old Frisian lenden and Old English lendenu (“loins, kidneys”).^[3][5] Outside Germanic it is related to Latin lumbus (“loin”), Polish lędźwie (“loins”) and Russian ля́двея (ljádveja, “thigh, haunch”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“waist, kidney”).^[3][1] Franck–Van Wijk posit Germanic forms with /w/, which the Slavic word and Latin ⟨lumbus⟩ from *londhwos also show.^[6][5]

With another ablaut grade De Vries and Franck–Van Wijk add Old High German lunda (“bacon, fat”), Old English lynd (“fat”) and lund (“loin, fat by the kidneys; temper”).^[5][6] The kidneys lie in the lower back, so a word for them could come to mean the loins.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, in herta min in lendin min bekerda uuirthun “my heart and my reins were turned”, where lendin renders Latin renes “kidneys”.^[4][3] Middle Dutch glosses of about 1240 from Limburg give lendene for Latin lumbi “loins” and lenden for renes.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used the word for the side of the lower body and for the kidneys: a Brabant text of 1276 has a saint standing in boiling water up to the lyndenen, and a West Flemish herbal of 1287 says that saxifrage breaks the stone in the bladder and the lendine.^[8]

Bible language made the loins the seat of strength and of the male organs: begordet de lendenen uwes gemoets “gird up the loins of your mind” (1551), and de vrucht sijner lenden “the fruit of his loins” (1688).^[2] Jokingly, de lendenen meten “to measure someone's loins” meant to beat him (1710).^[2] The word is also used of four-footed animals, and in building of the steep lower part of an arch.^[2][9] Dutch lende passed into Frisian and Skepi Dutch.^[10]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Lendin is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[4][11]
• c. 1240 – Limburg glosses render Latin lumbi and renes.^[8]
• 1287 – Lendine is used of the kidneys in West Flanders.^[8]
• 1551 – Begordet de lendenen uwes gemoets is recorded.^[2]
• 1688 – De vrucht sijner lenden appears in the Bible.^[2]
• 1710 – De lenden meten “to beat” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The loin: the inward-curving lower part of the back with the adjoining parts of the sides.^[9][1][2]
2. The hind part of the back of a four-footed animal;^[9][2] dikke lende is the rump of beef.^[9][2]
3. (architecture) The steep lower part of an arch.^[9]
4. The flank, side.^[1]

Word family

• lamlendig
• lendendoek
• lendenstuk
• lendenwervel

Related words

• lumbaal
• lumbago
• German Lende

Usage notes

An obsolete masculine lende, “neighbour, owner of the adjoining land”, has a different source: the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal found it only in formerly Frisian areas and took it as a shortening of *gelende, Old Dutch gelendo, a derivative of land.^[2][8] It appears in Oudenaarde in 1291, and a text of 1595 counts zeven lendenen “seven neighbours”.^[8][2] The Middle Dutch dictionary notes that it was associated with lende “loin, side” by folk etymology and took over its plural forms.^[12]

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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
4. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
5. ^ a b c d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 224
8. ^ a b c d e f 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 Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
12. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org