smokkelen

Forms

smokkelen^[1]

Etymology

It is a frequentative from Middle Dutch smûken (“to act sneakily, cringe”), a 14th-century verb, with the suffix -elen, and is first recorded in 1615.^[2][3][1][4] The base also had the forms smuigen and smuiken, as in besmuikt “sneaky”.^[2][5] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal thinks the frequentatives of these verbs and of smokken have merged in this verb.^[6] The same formation is found in Low German smukkeln and smuggeln and in West Frisian smokkelje.^[2][5]

The verbs belong to *smeuganą (“to creep, slip through”), seen in Old English smūgan (“to creep”), Old Norse smjúga (“to squeeze through a narrow opening”) and Middle High German smiegen (“to press close”).^[5][7][1] Kroonen reconstructs the iterative Proto-Germanic *smukk/gōn- (“to creep”), which also gave Faroese smokka (“to sink, slide down”), and compares Lithuanian smùkti (“to slide, slip”).^[7][1] The sense “to smuggle” grew out of “to creep, sneak”, as it did in sluiken.^[5][4] German schmuggeln and English smuggle were borrowed from Dutch, directly or through Low German.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, from 1615, speaks of beer: De derde smockelt het en haelt het in ter sluyck, “the third smuggles it and brings it in on the sly”;^[2][6] smockelbier “smuggled beer” follows in 1617.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb was first used of goods, especially beer, brought in secretly to avoid a ban or a tax, and later of anything or anyone brought somewhere in secret.^[6][9] From “to evade a rule for one's own gain” came, by the 18th century, the use for evading duties on imports (1771), for shirking a task, and for cheating at school, still a sense of the modern word.^[6][9] Regionally it meant to eat on the sly or with relish, as in a text of 1873 where a boy sits te smokkelen aan zijnen zoetekoek, to court in secret, recorded at Marken and Volendam, and to kiss.^[6][10]

English took smuggler in the 1660s and smuggle in the 1680s from Low German or Dutch.^[11] The Scandinavian languages have Danish smugle, Norwegian smugle and Swedish smuggla, from Dutch or Low German, and the verb also went into Indonesian (smokel) and Papiamentu (smòkel).^[8][1]

Timeline

• 1615 – Smockelen “to bring in illegally” is first recorded.^[2][12]
• 1617 – Smockelbier “smuggled beer” is recorded.^[2]
• 1660s – English smuggler is first recorded.^[11]
• 1680s – English smuggle is first recorded.^[11]
• 1771 – The verb is used of evading import duties.^[6]
• 1850 – Smokkelen “to court in secret” is recorded in a Volendam song.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To smuggle: to bring forbidden goods, or goods liable to duty, secretly across a border.^[9][1]
2. (transitive) To bring something or someone somewhere in secret.^[9]
3. (intransitive) To get round a rule or ban.^[9]
4. (intransitive) To cheat in a test or exam; spieken.^[9][6]
5. (intransitive, colloquial) To cut corners, to take a shortcut.^[1]

Word family

• smokkel
• smokkelaar
• smokkelarij
• smokkelwaar
• smokkelhandel
• smokkelschip
• smokkelnest
• binnensmokkelen

Related words

• smuigen
• smuiken
• besmuikt
• sluiken
• English smuggle
• German schmuggeln

Usage notes

In southern dialects a separate verb smokkelen (also smokelen), a frequentative of smoken, means “to smoke” and, impersonally, “to drizzle”; its ⟨kk⟩ is probably due to the word for smuggling.^[6][13][14]

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 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. ^ Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 348
5. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
9. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
10. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2005), Oost-Vlaams en Zeeuws-Vlaams etymologisch woordenboek, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas
11. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
13. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2002), West-Vlaams etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de West-Vlaamse woorden, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Atlas
14. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2010), Brabants etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woordenschat van Antwerpen, Brussel, Noord-Brabant en Vlaams-Brabant, Zwolle: Wbooks