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wacht

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Pronunciation

Forms

wacht f (plural wachten, diminutive wachtje n)[1] In the sense “guard, watchman” the noun is masculine, and the plural can then also be wachts.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch wachte, inherited from Old Dutch wahta, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“watch, vigil”).[4][1][5] The same noun is Old Saxon wahta (Middle Low German ⟨wachte⟩), Old High German wahta (modern German Wacht) and West Frisian wacht, which point to Germanic ⟨*wahtō-⟩, while Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍅𐍉 (wahtwō) continues a variant ⟨*wahtwō-⟩.[4][6][7] It was formed on the root ⟨*wak-⟩ of waken (“to be awake, keep watch”), with Germanic ⟨*-kt-⟩ becoming ⟨*-ht-⟩.[4][5][8] Wiktionary analyses it as *wakaną (“to wake”) with the suffix *-þwō.[1]

Its Frankish form *wahta was borrowed into Old French, where it gave guaite (“watchman”) (about 1135), in the north ⟨waite⟩, and early on a verb waiter (“to keep watch”) (about 1090); modern French has guetter (“to lie in wait for”).[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old Dutch word is first found in a Latin text of the 9th century, faciunt uuagtas, “they post watches”, where it means a guard or guard post.[4][8] It also forms the place name Wagtebeke (Wachtebeke near Ghent), recorded in 1198.[8] Middle Dutch wagte is first recorded around 1240 in Limburg, glossing Latin excubiae and custodia, “watch, guarding”.[9][4]

Semantic evolution

In 13th-century Middle Dutch wachte meant guarding, a guard post, a guarded area, attentiveness, and also a body of guards: in a West Flemish text of 1285, De wachte vondsi slapende, “they found the guards asleep”.[9][4] Franck–Van Wijk and De Vries & De Tollenaere place the personal sense “guard(s)” only in modern Dutch, but these 13th-century quotations already show it.[6][7][4] Van der Sijs dates the sense “group of people who guard something” to 1522.[10]

From guard duty in towns the word spread to other turns of duty: the watch of a ship's crew (1658), the duty of doctors and nurses (1642), and in Flanders the weekend or night service of pharmacists and general practitioners.[2] The verb wachten was derived from the noun; its old senses “to guard, watch over” have faded, and “to wait” has become the main one, much as German warten once meant “to keep watch”.[4][11]

Several phrases come from soldiers on guard: iets in de wacht slepen, to carry something off as one's own, is explained from soldiers or police dragging things into the guardroom, and iemand de wacht aanzeggen, to warn someone sternly, first meant telling him it was his turn to stand guard.[12][2] The curse loop naar de wacht!, “go away!”, has lost its literal sense.[13]

Danish vagt and Norwegian and Swedish vakt were borrowed from Dutch or Low German, and passed on to Finnish vahti.[14] Polish wachta and Russian vachta came from Dutch or German.[14][4] The word also lived on in Negerhollands and in Afrikaans wag.[1]

Timeline

  • 9th century – Old Dutch uuagtas “guards, watches” appears in a Latin text.[4][8]
  • 1198 – The place name Wagtebeke is recorded.[8]
  • c. 1240 – Middle Dutch wagte is first recorded, in Limburg.[9][4]
  • 1285 – Die wachte houden “to keep watch” and the sense “body of guards” appear in West Flemish texts.[9]
  • 1522 – The sense “group of people who guard something” is dated.[10]
  • 1658 – The word is used of the watches of a ship's crew.[2]
  • 1836 – Iemand de wacht aanzeggen is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A guard, someone who keeps watch.[15][1]
  2. The watch, the duty of guarding: de wacht houden, to keep watch.[15][2]
  3. The time during which someone is on guard: Zijn wacht begint om middernacht.[15]
  4. A body of guards: wisseling van de wacht, the changing of the guard, also of new office-holders taking over.[15][1]
  5. (nautical) Each of the divisions of a ship's crew that keep watch in turns.[15][2]
  6. A guard post.[1][16]

Word family

  • wachthuis
  • wachtpost
  • wachttoren
  • wachtvolk
  • buitenwacht
  • rijkswacht
  • schildwacht
  • wachtbij
  • wachtcommandant
  • wachtdienst
  • wachtlokaal

Usage notes

Wacht is also the stem and imperative of the verb wachten “to wait”, as in wacht even!.[15][4] In Surinamese Dutch de Jonge Wacht was a Catholic youth organisation, later merged into the scouts.[17]

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 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. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 425
  8. ^ a b c d e f Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  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. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  11. ^ Pluim, T. (1911), Keur van Nederlandsche woordafleidingen, Purmerend: Muusses
  12. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  13. ^ Sterkenburg, P. G. J. van (2001), Vloeken: een cultuurbepaalde reactie op woede, irritatie en frustratie, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
  14. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  15. ^ a b c d e f Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  16. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  17. ^ Donselaar, J. van (1989), Woordenboek van het Surinaams-Nederlands, Muiderberg: Coutinho