Etymologically
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stuk

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Pronunciation

Forms

stuk n (plural stukken, diminutive stukje n)[1] Counted items take the plural stuks: vijf stuks.[1][2] The western dialects and Frisian have the unrounded stik and stek, already found in Middle Dutch.[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch stuc, inherited from Old Dutch *stukki, inherited from Proto-Germanic *stukkiją (“piece”).[3][1] The same word is Old Saxon stukki, Old High German stucki (modern German Stück), West Frisian stik, Old English stycce and Old Norse stykki (modern Swedish stycke).[3][4][5] The EWN derives it from the frequentative Proto-Germanic *stukkōn, related to stuiken “to push, knock”;[3][5] Kroonen derives it from the strong verb Proto-Germanic *stekan- (Dutch steken) or from its iterative.[3][5] The original sense was the result of the knocking: a piece hewn or broken off, a stump, a log.[3][2]

Middle Dutch also had the unrounded ⟨stic⟩, with the North Sea Germanic change of /u/ to /i/.[3] The adjective ⟨stuk⟩ “broken” is the same word: it arose by shortening of the phrase ⟨aen stucke⟩ “to pieces”, with the old plural, which lost its final ⟨e⟩ to ⟨aan stuk⟩ and in the 19th century dropped the preposition.[3][6][4] The Germanic word was borrowed into Romance as Italian stucco.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in a Ghent text of 1212–1223, which counts .ii. stic terre “two pieces of land”.[3][8] The Bernardus glossary of about 1240 has stucke for Latin frustum “a piece, morsel”.[3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word already meant a loose piece or fragment (spears that broke into stucke, 1220) and, in charters, a matter or legal case (1293) and a thing (1298); “a single specimen”, as in drie stucke “three pieces”, appears in 1399.[3][8] Phrases like te stucken springen “to burst to pieces” were common in Middle Dutch.[8] In early modern Dutch stuk also meant a cannon (1572), and in 1769 “stature”, kleener van stuk.[3]

From the 16th century the adverb aan stuk “to pieces” was used with verbs of breaking, aen stucke gestooten (1610); the bare stuk came up in the 19th century, de mijne is stuk “mine is broken” (1841), and is now an adjective, even before nouns in colloquial een stukke fiets.[3] By ellipsis een stuk also means a slice of bread in Frisian and the western dialects, and an attractive woman (1976), from een knap stuk van een meid (1950).[3] The phrase voet bij stuk houden “to stand one's ground” is a folk-etymological change of voet bij stek, with stek a boundary post.[3] Dutch passed the word to Negerhollands and to Indonesian setik “piece”.[10]

Timeline

  • 1212–1223 – Stic is recorded in Ghent, of pieces of land.[3][8]
  • c. 1240 – The Bernardus glossary has stucke “piece, morsel”.[3][11]
  • 1293 – Stuc is used for a matter or legal case.[3]
  • 1399 – Drie stucke “three items” is recorded.[3]
  • 1572 – Stuk is used for a cannon.[3]
  • 1610 – Aen stucke gestooten “broken to pieces” is recorded.[3]
  • 1819 – Stuk “broken” is first recorded.[11][12]
  • 1841 – De mijne is stuk shows the adjective as a predicate.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A piece, part or fragment of a whole: Wil je nog een stuk kaas?.[13][1]
  2. A fair amount, a stretch or distance: Hij liep een heel stuk mee.[13]
  3. (plural stuks) An item, one of a number of things counted: De eieren kosten twintig cent per stuk.[13][1]
  4. (informal) A physically attractive man or woman.[13][1]
  5. A document, especially an official paper; an article in a paper.[13][1][12]
  6. A work of art or craft, especially a play or a musical piece.[13][1]
  7. (games) A playing piece, especially in chess.[13][1]
  8. (card games) The king and queen of trumps held in one hand.[13][12]
  9. A piece of artillery, a cannon.[13][3]

Adjective

  1. broken, in pieces; out of order: De wasmachine is weer stuk.[13][1]
  2. (informal) Very moved or upset: ergens stuk van zijn.[13]

Word family

  • stuks
  • stukje
  • brokstuk
  • hoofdstuk
  • erfstuk
  • kopstuk
  • kunststuk
  • leerstuk
  • muntstuk
  • huzarenstuk
  • toneelstuk
  • werkstuk
  • stukgoed
  • stukwerk
  • stuiken
  • stok
  • stukadoor
  • German Stück

Usage notes

Voet bij stuk houden “to stick to one's position” goes back to voet bij stek houden (about 1540).[3] In Belgian Dutch stuk is also used of other persons, as in een vies stuk (van een vent) “a nasty piece of work” (1961).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y 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
  4. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b c d e 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
  9. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 374
  10. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  12. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers