sorry

Forms

sorry^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English sorry (“I'm sorry”), short for I am sorry, recorded as an apology in English in 1834.^[2][3][4] The English adjective meant “worried, grieved, regretful” and continues Old English sārig, a derivative of sār (“pain, grief”), the word that corresponds to Dutch zeer.^[2][4]

The Old English adjective has cognates in Middle Dutch serich, Old Saxon sērag, Old High German sērag and West Frisian searich, all meaning “sad, sorry”, from Proto-Germanic *sairagaz.^[2][1][5] The Middle Dutch word lives on in the dialect word zeerig.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest Dutch record is from the weekly De Groene Amsterdammer of 1916: we zegge “sorry” als we elkaar op de teenen trappen, “we say ‘sorry’ when we tread on each other's toes”.^[2] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal has its first quotation from 1931.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word came in as a quick apology for a small offence and as a polite “excuse me”, the two senses the dictionaries still give.^[2][7][1] Van Dale records the phrases sorry dat ik besta, with which someone presents himself, often ironically, as superfluous, and sorry dat ik het zeg, which softens a blunt remark.^[7] Recent compounds include sorrycultuur and sorrydemocratie.^[1]

From Dutch the word passed into Papiamentu sòri and the Malay of Manado.^[8][1]

Timeline

• 1834 – English sorry as a short apology.^[2]
• 1916 – Dutch sorry is first recorded, in De Groene Amsterdammer.^[2]
• 1931 – The first quotation in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal.^[3][6]

Meanings

Interjection

1. sorry, expressing regret: Sorry, ik was het vergeten.^[7][1][9]
2. Pardon, excuse me.^[7][3][1]

Word family

• sorrycultuur
• sorrydemocratie

Related words

• zeer
• zeerig

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 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 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
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 Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
7. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
8. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
9. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org