Etymologically
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vader

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈvaː.dər/[1]

Forms

vader m (plural vaders or vaderen or gevaderen, diminutive vadertje n or vaderke n, feminine moeder)[1] The contracted form vaar is recorded from 1528 and survives in dialects and in the saying een aardje naar zijn vaartje.[2] Pet forms include va and dialectal vaat.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch vader, inherited from Old Dutch fadar, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fader, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fadēr (“father”).[3][1][4] The same word is Old Saxon fadar, Old High German fater (modern German Vater), Old Frisian feder (modern West Frisian faar), Old English fæder (modern English father), Old Norse faðir and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌳𐌰𐍂 (fadar), which is rare in Gothic beside the usual ⟨atta⟩.[3][4][2]

The Germanic noun continues Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (“father”), the source also of Latin pater and Ancient Greek πατήρ (patḗr), and of words for “father” in Sanskrit, Old Irish, Armenian and Tocharian.[3][5][4] It is one of the Indo-European kinship terms in ⟨*-ter-⟩, like broeder, moeder and dochter.[3] Wiktionary gives an earlier Germanic ⟨*faþḗr⟩, whose ⟨þ⟩ became ⟨d⟩ because the stress fell on the suffix, as in the Indo-European form.[1][4][3] Following the legal historian Jost Trier, De Vries notes that the word did not first name the begetter but the head of the family, a legal role;[5][6] Trier's further link with words for an enclosure is called uncertain.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest record is the Utrecht baptismal vow of the late 8th century, in which the convert professes belief in got alamehtigan fadaer “in God the almighty Father”.[3][7][8] The 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms call God fadera uueisono “father of orphans”, and in 1101 Vader appears as the byname of a man in Ghent, Rotbertus Vader.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named both the human father and God.[7] Middle Dutch texts often pair it with moeder.[9] From 1240 it glosses Latin pater and genitor.[9] It was used for a spiritual father too: in the east, a godfather was gevader or vadder.[10] In the Middle Ages people swore in court by their father or mother, and the formula bi den vader die mi ghewan “by the father who begot me” later turned into an oath.[11] The compound vaderland began as a Biblical word for the heavenly home, hemelsche vaderlant (1340–1360), and then meant one's native region; it renders Latin patria.[3]

Modern Dutch also uses vader for a forefather, for the founder or originator of something, and for a man who heads an institution, as in weesvader “father of an orphanage”.[12][13][2] The contracted vaar (1528) belonged to everyday and dialect speech; the saying een aardje naar zijn vaartje hebben “to take after one's father” was already very common in the 17th century.[2][14] In Surinamese Dutch mijn vader! is an exclamation of surprise or dismay.[15]

The word passed into Negerhollands (vader, fādǝ), Berbice Dutch (fadir), Javindo (fader) and Ambonese Malay, where fader addresses a man of one's father's age, and Danish, Norwegian and Swedish took fadder “godparent” from Dutch or Low German.[16][1]

Timeline

  • Late 8th century – Old Dutch fadaer in the Utrecht baptismal vow.[7][8][3]
  • 901–1000 – Fadera uueisono “father of orphans” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[3]
  • 1101 – Vader as a byname in Ghent.[7]
  • 1201 – Middle Dutch vader, in a Lower Rhine text.[9]
  • 1240 – Vader glosses Latin pater and genitor in Limburg.[9][3]
  • 1340–1360 – Vaderlant “heavenly fatherland”.[3]
  • 1528 – The contracted form vaar.[2]
  • 17th century – Een aardje naar zijn vaartje is in common use.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. father, a man who has or has begotten one or more children: Haar vader werkt in de haven.[12][13][1]
  2. (chiefly plural, vaderen) A forefather, an ancestor.[12][2]
  3. Founder, originator: the man who thought of or created something.[12][13]
  4. A man who acts as a father to others, or who heads an institution.[13][2]
  5. (Vader) God, especially the first person of the Trinity.[12][13][7]

Word family

  • vaderland
  • aartsvader
  • bestevader
  • grootvader
  • huisvader
  • kerkvader
  • pleegvader
  • schoonvader
  • stiefvader
  • vaderfiguur
  • vaderlijk
  • vaderschap
  • voorvader
  • vaar
  • gevader

Usage notes

The plural is usually vaders;[2][1] vaderen is used for forefathers and in a few fixed phrases.[2][1] Vadertje Staat is the state pictured as a father who provides.[12]

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 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 398
  7. ^ a b c d e f Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b c d 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
  10. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  11. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  12. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  13. ^ a b c d e Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  14. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  15. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho
  16. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)