ogen

Forms

ogen^[1] The verb is weak: oogde, geoogd.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ôghen, inherited from Old Dutch ôgen (“to show, point out”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *augijan, a verb formed from the word for eye.^[1][4] In the sense “to show, make known” it matches Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (augjan), Old High German ougan, Middle High German ougen and Old Saxon ôgan.^[5]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal doubts that the modern verb is the same word: it sees the verb in the sense “to look at” as a younger derivative of the noun, like English eye (“to look at”) from the noun.^[3] The Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek also thinks the sense “to stare at” was probably formed independently in Dutch.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first appears in a Middelburg charter of 1254 in the sense “to make known, announce”: a matter is to be announced every fourteen nights.^[6] The sense “to fix one's eyes on” is quoted from 1479: the king stood as long as he could see the ship.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch had both the old sense “to show” and the newer “to stare at”, though the first is rare;^[5] Kiliaan in 1599 gives only the second.^[5] In early modern Dutch the verb was used transitively, “to see, behold”, as in a text of 1564 about men who had gone so far ahead that they could hardly be seen; this use had long been obsolete by 1893.^[3] The intransitive “to look intently, look around” survived with naar or op into the 19th century, and in spoken Holland Dutch.^[3]

The modern copulative sense, “to look, appear”, as in goed ogen “to look good”, was collected as a neologism from Dutch newspapers of 1975–1983.^[2][7] English ogle “to make eyes at” was borrowed from Dutch ogen.^[8]

Timeline

• 1254 – A Middelburg charter uses oghen “to make known”.^[6]
• 1479 – The verb is quoted in the sense “to keep one's eyes on”.^[5]
• 1564 – Transitive ooghen “to see” is recorded.^[3]
• 1598 – Soo verre wy oogen mochten “as far as we could see”.^[3]
• 1975 – A newspaper writes that a city oogt enigszins morsig “looks rather grubby”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (copulative) to look, appear: give the impression the complement names: Het nieuwe station oogt modern.^[7][1][2]
2. (intransitive, obsolete) to look intently, stare.^[1][3]
3. (transitive, obsolete) to see, view, eye.^[1][3]

Word family

• beogen
• ooglijk

Related words

• oog
• English ogle

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Reinsma, R. (1984), Neologismen, Utrecht: Spectrum
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
8. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)