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om

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Pronunciation

Forms

om[1] The older form omme survives in compounds such as ommezijde, ommezwaai and in een ommezien.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch ombe, inherited from Old Dutch umbi, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *umbi, inherited from Proto-Germanic *umbi.[2][1][4] The Middle Dutch form became ⟨omme⟩ by assimilation and was then shortened to ⟨om⟩, a loss of /b/ after /m/ also seen in dom and krom.[3][2] The same word is Old Saxon umbi, Old High German umbi (modern German um), Old Frisian umbe (modern West Frisian om), Old English ymbe and Old Norse umb (modern Swedish om), all meaning “around”.[2][4] Gothic has no such word.[3]

The EWN traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₂m-bʰi, the source of Latin amb-, Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “on both sides, around”), Sanskrit अभि (abhí), Old Irish imb- (“around”), Gaulish ambi- and Albanian mbi (“on, to”).[2] The Greek word is the first part of amfibie.[2] Franck and Van Wijk thought Sanskrit अभि (abhí, “near”) continues rather Proto-Indo-European *obʰi, and that this form and the one with ⟨*m̥-⟩ fell together.[5] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₂n̥t-bʰi, a petrified instrumental of a root noun for “face, front”.[4] A link with bij is uncertain.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century have umbeuuath “why”, literally “around what”.[2][6] In the Willeram (about 1100) umbe middendach means “around noon”, and the Reimbibel (1151–1200) uses umbe einen lutzel scaz “for a little money”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Most uses of the preposition are found by the 13th century or earlier: it expresses nearness in space or time, introduces a motive, cause or explanation, names a goal (asking om something) and once expressed an exchange, as in Middle Dutch .xxv. d omme wijn “25 pence for the wine” (1284).[2] The sense of exchange is now obsolete.[2] The use with te and an infinitive, “in order to”, introduces a short clause.[7][1]

As an adverb om means around, but also “over, past”, as in de tijd is om, and turned upside down, as in omvallen.[8][7] In exclamations such as om godswil it first meant “for the love of God, to please God”; the Flemish om de liefde Gods renders French pour l'amour de Dieu.[9]

The WNT showed that om in om het leven brengen and in omkomen and ombrengen is a separate word in origin.[3] It continues Middle Dutch ane (“without”), whose by-form oon was common in the 16th century and was later taken for om.[3]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – umbeuuath “why” is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms, with verbs such as umbigan “to go round”.[2][6]
  • c. 1100 – umbe middendach “around noon” appears in the Willeram.[2][6]
  • c. 1210–1240 – Middle Dutch ombe is recorded.[10]
  • 1237 – The preposition is recorded in Ghent.[11]
  • 1264 – The shortened forms omme and om are recorded.[10]
  • 1284 – omme expresses an exchange: 25 pence for the wine.[2]
  • 1287 – om is first recorded as an adverb of place.[12]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. around, about, in a circle round something: We zaten om het kampvuur.[7][1]
  2. At a point in time: De film begint om negen uur.[7][1] om en bij: roughly, about.[7]
  3. Every other, after each: Hij komt om de week.[7] om de beurt: taking turns.[7]
  4. In exchange for.[7][2]
  5. For the sake of, because of: om godswil.[7][9]
  6. For, naming something wanted or a goal: Ze vroeg om hulp.[7][2]
  7. With te and an infinitive: in order to: Hij spaart om een auto te kopen.[7][1]

Adverb

  1. Around, by a longer way: Langs de dijk is het een stuk om.[7][1]
  2. Over, past: De vakantie is om.[7][1]
  3. Turned the other way, also in mind: convinced: Na dat gesprek was hij om.[7][1]

Word family

  • daarom
  • omdat
  • omheen
  • omtrek
  • waarom
  • achterom
  • andersom
  • linksom
  • omweg
  • rechtsom
  • ommetje
  • omgeving
  • omvallen
  • om-
  • amfibie
  • German um

Usage notes

Hem om hebben “to be drunk” may be short for de staart om hebben, like a cow that swings its tail round its body when it is angry.[13]

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 o p 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 e 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. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  6. ^ a b c d Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  8. ^ Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
  9. ^ a b Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  10. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 268
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  13. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie