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uit

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Pronunciation

Forms

uit[1] Dialectal and Middle Dutch uut.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch uut (also ûte), inherited from Old Dutch ūt, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ūt, inherited from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out”).[4][1][5] The same word is Old Saxon ūt, Old High German ūz (modern German aus), Old Frisian ūt (modern West Frisian út), Old English ūt (modern English out), Old Norse út (modern Swedish ut) and Gothic 𐌿𐍄 (ūt).[4][5][6][7]

It continues the adverb Proto-Indo-European *úd (“up, out”), also found in Sanskrit उद् (úd, “upward, outward”), Old Church Slavonic вы- (vy-, “out”) and the Old Irish verbal prefix ud-.[4][5][6][8] Van Veen and the WNT also compare Ancient Greek ὕστερος (hústeros, “later”).[9][3] Kroonen explains the long vowel of the Germanic form by the word's being a monosyllable, while the EWN calls its origin uncertain and points out that the short vowel of English utter and utmost is fairly recent.[5][4] A derivative *uds probably gave, through an assimilated ⟨*us⟩, the prefix Proto-Germanic *uz- of oor-.[4]

The adverb is older than the preposition, for which Germanic at first used that other particle, as in Gothic 𐌿𐍃 (us, “out of”).[2] Beside the short form stood a longer one, eastern Middle Dutch uter (“out of”), as Old High German ūzar (modern German außer (“except”)) and Old English ūtor, and a form in ⟨-n⟩ that underlies buiten.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch ūt is first found in the place name Vttrecht, now Utrecht, in 870.[9][10][7] As an adverb it appears in a late 9th-century charm, Gang ūt nesso “go out, worm!”, and in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms, in ne sal ic ut faron “I will not go away”.[4] The preposition “out of” is first recorded around 1100 in the Leiden Willeram, of driving people out of their land.[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch ute also meant “at an end”: a Ghent rule of 1236 tells the reader to say a psalm verse ute, to its end.[4][12] The preposition meant “coming from”, as in uter herten “from the heart” (1240).[4] It governs the dative, and in Middle Dutch it usually fused with the article into uter and uten.[4] The WNT notes that its development largely runs parallel to that of van: from “having left” come the senses of distance, separation, origin, cause, means and material.[3]

As the first part of verbs uit gained new senses, some of them very productive: “to the end”, as in uitlezen and uitbranden, “loudly, strongly”, as in uitschelden and uitjouwen, and “emptying”, as in uitroken.[4] In 1965 uit appears in the sense “out of fashion”, translated from the English word.[13] The word passed into Negerhollands (ut, it, yt “to switch off; not burning”), Berbice Dutch (oiti), Kupang Malay (aut “outside”) and Jakarta Malay, where hit-hit means “finished!”.[14][1]

Timeline

  • 870 – Old Dutch ūt in the place name Vttrecht (Utrecht).[9][10]
  • 891–900 – Gang ūt nesso “go out, worm!” in a charm.[4]
  • 901–1000 – Ne sal ic ut faron “I will not go away” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[4]
  • c. 1100 – The preposition in the Leiden Willeram.[4][11]
  • 1200 – The Middle Dutch preposition in Limburg.[12]
  • 1236 – Ute “to the end” in Ghent.[4][12]
  • c. 1540 – Vuyt mynder zyden ran water en bloed “out of my side ran water and blood”.[4]
  • 1965 – Uit “out of fashion”.[13]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. out, outward: Hij liep de kamer uit.[15][1]
  2. Towards a destination or in a direction: We gaan morgen de stad uit.[15]
  3. Through to the end of a period: Ze bleef de hele maand uit.[15]
  4. (with er, daar) Outside of what is named: Hij lag er al na de eerste ronde uit.[15]
  5. Not at home, gone out: Mijn ouders zijn vanavond uit.[15]
  6. (sports) On the opponent's ground, away: Zondag spelen we uit.[15]
  7. Over, finished: De les is om drie uur uit.[15][1]
  8. Off, not burning or not switched on: Het licht in de gang is uit.[15][1][16]
  9. (sports) Of a ball, outside the lines of the field.[16]

Preposition

  1. Out of, not in: Ze stapte uit de auto.[15][1]
  2. Away from: Ga uit de weg![15]
  3. Beyond: uit het zicht.[15]
  4. (with an infinitive) In order to: uit wandelen gaan.[15]
  5. from, coming from, by means of: Ze komt uit Leuven.[15][1]
  6. Out of, because of: Hij deed het uit jaloezie.[15]

Word family

  • uiten
  • uiteen
  • uitbuiten
  • uitbaten
  • uitmunten
  • uittocht
  • achteruit
  • vooruit
  • eruit
  • vanuit
  • veruit
  • voluit
  • ronduit
  • hooguit
  • languit
  • onderuit
  • vrijuit

Usage notes

Van Dale records set phrases such as een avondje uit “an evening out”, samen uit, samen thuis “what we start together we finish together” and en daarmee uit! “and that's that!”.[15] Stoett explains er over uit zijn “to be overjoyed about something” as being out of a difficulty, and notes that in dialects it means “to be out for something”, a sense found in Bredero.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
  5. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 395
  8. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  9. ^ a b c Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  10. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  12. ^ 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
  13. ^ a b Reinsma, R. (1975), Signalement van nieuwe woorden, Amsterdam: Elsevier
  14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  16. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  17. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme