rook

Forms

rook m (uncountable, no diminutive)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch rooc, inherited from Old Dutch rōk (written ⟨rouc⟩), inherited from Proto-Germanic *rauki- (“smoke”).^[2][1][3][4] Kroonen and Orel explain it as an i-stem noun made to the strong verb that gave ruiken, and the EWN calls it related to that verb by ablaut.^[4][5][2] The same word is Old Saxon rōk, Old High German rouh (modern German Rauch), Old Frisian rēk (modern West Frisian reek), Old English rēc (modern English reek “stench”, dated and dialectal “smoke”) and Old Norse reykr (modern rök), all “smoke, vapour”.^[2][4]

Verbs meaning “to give off smoke” were made from these nouns: Middle Dutch roken (modern roken), rouhhen, rīecan and reykja.^[2] The Limburg gloss ⟨roech⟩ of 1240 has a High German final consonant; the usual Middle Dutch form was ⟨rooc⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch rouc is recorded in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms: Also teferit rouc tefarin “as smoke vanishes, may they vanish”.^[2][3] A text from Werden of about 1151 uses it of incense smoke.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch roech glosses Latin fumus in Limburg in 1240, and a Lower Rhine text of 1270 has the proverb war rok is … dar is vir “where there is smoke, there is fire”.^[6][2] In Middle Dutch the noun was often mixed up with roke “smell”, the ancestor of reuk.^[7][3]

From the 16th century the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal records smoke rising into the air (1511), smoke from a badly drawing hearth (1598), meat and fish hung in the chimney smoke to keep, and sayings such as the warning of 1632 that if the fire of bad company does not burn you, its smoke will blacken you.^[8] By gans roock was a mild oath of the 16th and 17th centuries, probably swearing by the smell of Christ's body in his suffering.^[9] The verb roken “to cure with smoke” is recorded in 1599, and roken “to smoke tobacco” in 1660.^[2] Modern phrases include in rook opgaan “to go up in smoke, to vanish” and onder de rook van “close to (a town)”.^[10]

The word lives on in Afrikaans rook and Negerhollands rook.^[11][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch rouc is recorded in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[3][2][12]
• c. 1151 – Old Dutch rouche is used of incense.^[3]
• 1240 – Middle Dutch roech glosses Latin fumus in Limburg.^[6][2]
• 1270 – War rok is … dar is vir “where there is smoke there is fire” is recorded.^[6]
• 1511 – Smoke rising into the air is described.^[8]
• 1599 – Roocken “to cure (meat) with smoke” is recorded.^[2]
• 1632 – The saying about the smoke of bad company is recorded.^[8]
• 1660 – Roken “to smoke (tobacco)” is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. smoke, the visible mixture of gases and fine particles given off by burning.^[10][1][13]

Word family

• roken
• aardrook
• wierook
• rokerig
• rookgat
• rookwolk
• rookgas
• rooklucht
• rookmasker
• rookvrij
• rookzuil

Related words

• ruiken
• reuk

Usage notes

Dutch has a separate, rare noun rook “haystack”, Middle Dutch rooc.^[14][10][15] It is a different word, the same as Old English hrēac (“stack, rick”) and Old Norse hraukr (“conical stack”), and is related to English rick.^{[14][16][4][8]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 f Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c 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. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
10. ^ a b c Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
13. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
14. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
15. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 316
16. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff