plek

Forms

plek f (plural plekken, diminutive plekje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch plecke, inherited from Proto-Germanic *plakjo- (“spot, stain”), a variant with a different vowel beside plak, which also meant “spot, place” in Middle Dutch and still does in dialects.^[2][1][3][4] The same word is Middle Low German plecke “place, stain”, and the dialect word pleck “place” in English, recorded from the 14th century, may come from Dutch.^[2][5]

Its origin is unclear.^[2] The meaning suggests a link with vlek: if so, the ⟨p⟩ would come from a substrate language and would have escaped the Germanic sound shift, as Kuhn proposed in 1961.^[2][1] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal thought it perhaps an imitative word, like its variant with ⟨a⟩.^[6]

The first meaning was probably “stain, spot”.^[2] German Flecken “spot” also came to mean “hamlet, village”, and English spot went the same way, from a mark to a place.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form placke glosses Latin labes and menda “stain, blemish” in a Limburg glossary of about 1240, beside vlacke and vlecke.^[7] The sense “place” appears in 1358, in omme plecke van mersche, “for a piece of meadow”.^[2][8][4]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch plecke meant a stain or blemish, a mark on the skin, and also a place or a village, while the form placke kept the sense “stain, blot”.^[2][9] In 1599 Kiliaan still gave placke, plecke, vlecke both as “stain” and as “place, village”.^[2]

In the Netherlands the sense “stain” became old-fashioned, but it lives on in Belgium, and in the blauwe plek, a bruise, recorded in the plural in 1858.^[6][10] The usual sense today is “place, spot”, which in the South is often simply the word for plaats.^[5][10] Phrases include de vinger op de zere plek leggen, to point exactly to the problem, and witte plekken, blank areas on a map.^[11][10]

Afrikaans plek means “place”, and South African English took the word from it.^[1][12] In Negerhollands wat plek, “what place”, became the word for “where”.^[12][1]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Placke “stain” in a Limburg glossary.^[7]
• 1358 – Plecke “piece of land, place” is recorded.^[2][8]
• 1599 – Kiliaan lists plecke as both “stain” and “place”.^[2]
• 1858 – Blaauwe plekken, bruises, are recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place, a spot, a particular point or area: Dit is een mooie plek om te picknicken.^[10][1][13]
2. The right place for someone or something: Hij heeft zijn plek gevonden in het team.^[10]
3. Room, space taken up or available: Is er nog plek in de auto?^[10][13]
4. A small patch of a surface that looks different from its surroundings; a blauwe plek is a bruise.^[10][1]
5. (Belgium) A stain.^[10]

Word family

• werkplek
• parkeerplek
• slaapplek
• rustplek
• plekken
• plekkerig
• ter plekke

Related words

• plak
• vlek
• plaats
• English pleck

Usage notes

Ter plekke means “on the spot”, and iets een plek geven is to come to terms with an emotion or event.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
4. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
5. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c 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 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
8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
9. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
11. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
12. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org