vond

Forms

vond m (plural vonden, diminutive vondje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch vont, inherited from Old Dutch *fund, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fund, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fundaz, an ablaut noun to the verb vinden “to find”, formed from the stem of its past tense.^[1][2][3] The same noun is Middle Low German vunt, Middle High German vunt (modern German Fund) and Old Norse fundr (modern Swedish fynd), all meaning “finding, what is found”.^[2][4]

Its derivative vondst was formed with the ending ⟨-st⟩ on the model of dienst, kunst and vangst, and is found only in Dutch and Frisian.^[2][5] From the 19th century on it took over most of the senses of the older word.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Van Veen and Van der Sijs date Middle Dutch vont “what one finds” to 1301–1350.^[6] An early-14th-century Flemish text tells that the plunder and the rike vont, the rich treasure, were of no help to the captives, who all died.^[4] In 1380 a Flemish fief includes the fines, bastards' goods and de vond, the found property.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used vont for a found object, for a foundling (1400) and, from the treasure of popular belief, for any precious possession, even for Christ as onsen riken vont (1339).^[4] It also meant what the mind finds: an invention or device (1340), a poem, as in Dit is Jacobs vont (1339), and a trick or ruse.^[4] Kiliaan glosses vond both as Latin inventum and as dolus “ruse”, and vonst “trick” is dated 1365.^[4][6]

In the 16th and 17th centuries the word meant a found good and the lord's right to it (1502), a southern excise term for the gauging of wine and beer (1563), and a clever idea or happy thought (1550, 1565), also a writer's inventive turn (1620).^[3] After the 19th century it survived only in archaic literary language and in dialects; in Groningen te vond leggen meant to abandon a child as a foundling.^[3] The idea of cleverness lives on in spitsvondig.^[4]

Timeline

• 1301–1350 – Middle Dutch vont “what one finds”.^[6][4]
• 1339 – Vont “poem, literary invention”.^[4]
• 1365 – Vonst “trick”.^[6]
• 1400 – Vont “foundling”.^[4]
• 1502 – Vondt, found property and the right to it.^[3]
• 1565 – Eenen vont vinden, to think up a way out.^[3]
• 1844 – Vondst begins to replace it.^[6][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) A find, something found; the act of finding (now vondst).^[1][3]
2. (archaic) A clever idea, device or invention.^[3][4]
3. (law, historical) Found property whose owner is unknown, and the right to it.^[3]

Word family

• vondst
• strandvond

Related words

• vinden
• spitsvondig
• German Fund

Usage notes

Vond “find” should not be confused with Middle Dutch vont “baptismal font”, from fōns (“spring”).^[8][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 e f g h i 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 Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; 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. 417
6. ^ a b c d e Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
7. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
8. ^ 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