Etymologically
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plek

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Pronunciation

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

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