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net

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net1 net, mesh

Pronunciation

Forms

net n (plural netten, diminutive netje n)[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle Dutch nette, inherited from Old Dutch *netti, inherited from Proto-Germanic *natją (“net”).[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon netti, Old High German nezzi (modern German Netz), Old Frisian nette, Old English nett (modern English net), Old Norse net and Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐍄𐌹 (nati), all meaning “net”.[2][4][3] With a different vowel grade Old Norse has nót (“large fishing net”).[2][3] Middle Dutch had both ⟨nette⟩ and the shorter ⟨net⟩.[2][5]

Related words are Latin nōdus (“knot”) and probably nassa (“wicker fish trap”), and Old Irish nascid (“binds”) has been compared too.[2][3][4] If they are Indo-European, a root Proto-Indo-European *neHd- (“to knot, tie”) can be set up, but the Philippa dictionary also allows that the Germanic and Latin words come from a language spoken in Europe before Indo-European.[2][1] The proposed link with nestel is uncertain.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is Old Dutch netten in a Latin charter from Ghent of 1176–1200, in the sense “caul, membrane around the guts”: the parts called netten and nerebedden go to the lord.[2][7] Middle Dutch nette “net” glosses Latin rete in a Limburg word list of 1240, and in 1285 Jesus tells the fishermen to cast the net on the right side.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal thinks that “caul” may be the oldest Germanic sense; the general sense is a meshed fabric of knotted yarn, used for fishing and hunting, for holding the hair and as a screen or protection.[8] From the 19th century the word is used for a network of lines and connections, for roads in 1864 and for railways in 1871.[2] Netvlies “retina” (1642) copies Medieval Latin retina, from rete (“net”), because the blood vessels of the retina look like a net.[2] In recent Dutch het net is a television channel and, since the 1990s, the Internet.[9][10][11]

Achter het net vissen, “to fish behind the net”, is an old saying for coming too late, when others have already fished the water.[12] The noun was borrowed into Negerhollands, Papiamentu (Papiamentu nèt), Indonesian (nét) and Arawak.[13][1]

Timeline

  • 1176–1200 – Old Dutch netten “cauls” in a charter from Ghent.[2][7]
  • 1240 – Middle Dutch nette glosses Latin rete “net”.[2][5][14]
  • 1285 – Net for a fishing net, in a West Flemish life of Jesus.[2][5]
  • 1642 – Nettevlies “retina” is first recorded.[2]
  • 1864 – A net of roads and connections.[2]
  • 1871 – Het groote spoorwegnet, the railway network.[2]
  • 1995 – Het Net is used for the Internet.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A net, a coarse-meshed fabric used to catch animals or for other purposes.[9][1]
  2. A pattern of crossing lines, roads and the like.[9][15]
  3. A network of things or people in close contact.[9]
  4. A national public television channel: het eerste net.[9][1]
  5. (anatomy) The fatty membrane between the belly and the guts, the omentum.[9][1]
  6. (computing) The Internet.[9][1]
  7. (mathematics) A family of curves in the plane depending linearly on two parameters.[9][15]

Word family

  • netwerk
  • netvlies
  • haarnet
  • visnet
  • vlindernet
  • telefoonnet
  • netspanning
  • netstroom
  • netvormig
  • botnet

net2 neat, tidy; just

Pronunciation

Forms

net (comparative netter, superlative netst)[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Middle Dutch net, borrowed from Old French net (“clean, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“shining, bright, neat”), from niteō (“to shine”).[2][1][4][6] It came into the language in late Middle Dutch, where it is still rare.[16][4] The French adjective meant “spotless” and “pure” in the 12th century and “orderly” by 1475.[2] The Latin verb may be related to Old Persian naiba- (“beautiful”) and Old Irish nōib (“holy”).[2]

English neat goes back to the same French word.[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch net first means “shining” around 1330.[2] The sense “fine, tidy” appears in 1456 in int nette setten, “to write out fair”, and the Teuthonista of 1477 glosses nett as “careful, neat”.[2][14]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century net meant pure in body and mind, as of a virgin in 1539, and also “handsome”, a sense now obsolete.[2][8] From “neat” came “careful, precise” (dat weet ik zoo net niet, 1808) and the adverb “just, exactly”, and in 1793 also “dignified, formal”.[2][8] In het net for a fair copy dates from 1668.[2] De Vreese took the Ghent school phrase in het net schrijven for a translation of Belgian French écrire au net.[18]

As a predicate the adjective has been almost entirely replaced by netjes since the 19th century, so that net is now mostly used before a noun: a nette man, a net house.[2] Dutch lent it to West Frisian, German and, through German, Danish, and to Javanese, Indonesian, Papiamentu and Sranan Tongo, where it means “neat” or “exactly”.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – Middle Dutch net “shining”.[2]
  • 1456 – Int nette setten “to write out fair”.[2][14]
  • 1477 – The Teuthonista glosses nett as “neat, careful”.[2]
  • 1530 – Net van persoone “neat in person”.[8]
  • 1668 – In 't net gebracht “put into a fair copy”.[2]
  • 1808 – Net “exactly” in dat weet ik zoo net niet.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. neat, tidy, orderly.[9][1]
  2. Of clothes: smart, suitable for formal occasions.[9][15]
  3. decent, respectable, proper.[9][1]

Adverb

  1. Just, exactly: het is maar net aan, it is only just enough.[9]
  2. Just now, a moment ago.[9]
  3. Just like: net echt, so well made that it looks real.[9]

Noun

  1. In het net: a fair copy, text in presentable form.[9][2]

Word family

  • netjes
  • netheid
  • zonet

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d 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
  6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b c d 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  10. ^ Reinsma, R. (1999), Neologismen, Den Haag: Sdu
  11. ^ a b Coster, Marc de (1999), Woordenboek van neologismen: 25 jaar taalaanwinsten, Amsterdam: Contact
  12. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  13. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  14. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  15. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  16. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  17. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  18. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer