plug

Forms

plug m (plural pluggen, diminutive plugje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch plugge (“wooden nail, peg”), recorded only from the early 16th century, but an old word, as its cognates show.^[2][3][1] Wiktionary traces it through Old Dutch *pluggi to Proto-Germanic *plugjaz.^[1] The same word is Middle Low German plugge, with Norwegian plugg, Danish pløg and Swedish plugg “peg”, and Middle High German pfloc (modern German Pflock).^[3][4][5][6]

The further origin is uncertain.^[7][3][1] Kroonen derives the noun from the paradigm of the iterative verb Proto-Germanic *pluk(k)ōn- (“to pluck”), with a stem *plugg/kkan-, and takes Norwegian ⟨pligg⟩ “small peg” as a loan from Low German rather than an ablaut form.^[7] De Vries and the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal connect it with plag (“cut sod; rag”), so that the oldest sense would have been “rag, piece”, whence “peg”.^[3][8][5] Franck–Van Wijk suggested a source in the root of ploeg, with an original sense “something pointed”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1510 a Holland text requires herring to be bound with twelve willow bands and geplugget three times with willow pegs.^[2][9] De Vries dates plugghe “peg” from 1511, in Amsterdam.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Plantijn (1573) and Kiliaan give plugghe as a wooden nail or wedge, and Kiliaan also as a worthless thing and a coarse, boorish man, the sense of later plug “lout”.^{[8][2][10][11]} The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal lists a range of wedge- or cone-shaped objects: the bung of a cask (1643), a peg driven into a ship's wooden nails (1697), the plug of a tap, a wall plug for a screw, and above all the wooden or metal pegs that fastened the soles of shoes.^[8] Van der Sijs's dictionary of loanwords lists plug as taken from English plug.^[12]

English took plug from Dutch: Etymonline dates it to the 1620s as a seamen's word, probably from Dutch, and the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek and Van Haeringen derive the English word from Dutch.^{[6][2][13][3]} Van der Sijs also lists Danish, Norwegian and Swedish forms from Dutch or Low German.^[14]

Timeline

• 1510 – Middle Dutch geplugget “pegged” and plugge “peg” are recorded in Holland.^[2][9]
• 1511 – Plugghe “peg” is recorded in Amsterdam.^[3]
• 1573 – Plantijn's dictionary glosses plugghe as French cheville.^[8][2]
• 1620s – English plug appears, as a seamen's term.^[6]
• 1643 – Plug is used for the bung of a cask.^[8]
• 1697 – Pluggen are wedges driven into the ends of a ship's wooden nails.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wall plug: a small tube of plastic or wood put into a hole drilled in stone or concrete, into which a screw is driven.^[15][1][11]
2. (technology) A plug with a single pin.^[15][11]
3. (tools) A small bolt with a square head; a stopper for a vessel.^[15][11]
4. (dated) A lout, a boor.^[11][10]

Word family

• pluggen

Related words

• English plug
• German Pflock

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
5. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 292
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d e f 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 Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
10. ^ a b Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
11. ^ a b c d e WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
13. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers