tuit

Forms

tuit f or m (plural tuiten, diminutive tuitje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch tute (also tuut), of unknown origin.^[2][1] Its relation to Middle and Early Modern Dutch tote “long point, spout” and to toet, which also had a variant ⟨tote⟩ “snout” (Kiliaan, 1599), is unclear;^[2] Flemish still has ⟨tote⟩, ⟨toot⟩ and ⟨teut(e)⟩ for a spout, a mouth or a kiss.^[2] The same word is Middle Low German tūte (“horn”), the source of German Tüte (“paper bag”), West Frisian tute (“spout”) and tút (“spout, kiss”), Swedish tut (“spout”) and Danish tud (“spout”).^[2][3][4]

De Vries puts it with toot and adds Icelandic túta (“something sticking out”); the basic meaning is “a pointed thing”.^[3][5] Hellquist reconstructs a Germanic ⟨*tūta-⟩, cited by the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, which also relates tiet.^[4] Franck–Van Wijk see in part the imitative tûten (“to toot”), but the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal prefers “pointed thing” for the sense “horn” too.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, about 1340, uses tute for a tip: someone would gladly have pulled out all of a man's feathers toter twt, “down to the point”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch also used it for a woman's hair piled up to a point, or a braid (1400–1420), and for a jug.^[2][8] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal has pointed shoes met tuyten (1552), a lock of hair (1574) and tranen met tuiten (1618), and the EWN the spout of a jug in 1617.^[4][2] The oath bij Gods tuiten first swore by God's locks of hair.^[9] In Surinamese Dutch tuit is also the teat of a feeding bottle and the valve of a ball.^[10] It is Afrikaans tuit, and Papiamentu took it as tùit.^[1][11]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – Middle Dutch tute “point” is first recorded.^[2][7]
• 1400–1420 – It is used of women's hair dressed to a point.^[2][8]
• 1552 – Schoen met tuyten “pointed shoes” appears.^[4][2]
• 1574 – Tuyte means a lock of hair.^[4]
• 1617 – The spout of a drinking vessel is recorded.^[2]
• 1618 – Tranen met tuiten is first recorded.^[4]
• 1635 – The verb tuiten “to make into a point” appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spout of a jug, kettle or teapot.^[12][13][1]
2. A pointed end of something.^[12][13]
3. (obsolete) A lock of hair.^[1][4]
4. (Suriname) The teat of a feeding bottle; the valve of a ball.^[10]

Word family

• ijdeltuit
• tuiten
• tuitel
• plastuit
• schenktuit

Related words

• toet
• toot
• German Tüte

Usage notes

Tranen met tuiten huilen means to cry one's eyes out.^[4] Vercoullie explained the tears as ending in a point, like the tear-shaped ornaments on funeral crape.^[14] The bird name tuut, tuit for a hen or some waders in eastern and northern dialects is probably of imitative origin and unrelated.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 393
6. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
7. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
8. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; 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 Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
12. ^ a b Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
13. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
14. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut