Etymologically
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wapen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʋaː.pə(n)/[1]

Forms

wapen n (plural wapens or wapenen, diminutive wapentje n)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch wâpen, inherited from Old Dutch wāpan, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, inherited from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”).[2][1][3] The same noun is Old Saxon wāpan, Old High German wāfan (modern German Waffe), Old Frisian wēpin, Old English wǣpen (modern English weapon), Old Norse vápn and Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐍀𐌽 (wēpn).[2][4][3]

No relatives outside Germanic are known, and the EWN calls the further origin unknown.[2][5][4] Franck and Van Wijk reject a comparison with Ancient Greek ὅπλον (hóplon, “tool, weapon”), both for the consonants and for the initial sound.[6] Kroonen notes that Old Norse and Old English also have forms that point to *wēbna-, and explains the alternation by an older n-stem that was given a new stem early, since Gothic already has it.[3] He derives that noun from the iterative verb Proto-Germanic *wappōną (“to wave, shake”), seen in wapperen and in obsolete wappen (“to strike, cuff”), probably through a sense “to brandish”.[3][1]

The sense “coat of arms” belongs to the same word: from the 12th century the shield, the main weapon of defence, bore a sign of the knight's lineage.[2] In this sense the word spread from Flanders with chivalric culture into German, where Wappen has been kept apart from the word for weapon since the 16th century.[4][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old Dutch has the word in the 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms in the collective geuuepene “armament”, and around 1100 the Egmond Willeram has wighwaphane “weapons of war”.[2] The Werden fragments of about 1151 use wāpan for an instrument of martyrdom.[7] In Middle Dutch a Ghent ordinance of 1237 fines anyone who carries a murderous weapon, mordadech wapin.[8][2][9]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch wapen meant a weapon of attack or defence, armour, and also a tool in general, which the Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek thinks may be the oldest sense.[10][8] Kiliaan still glossed it as “a craftsman's tool”, and a proverb of 1549 says that a bad workman never finds good tools.[11] The plural without an ending, wapen, lasted until the 17th century beside wapenen and wapens.[11]

The heraldic sense appears in 1340–1360, of a silk coat into which a knight's arms were woven; later towns, guilds and monasteries had their own arms as well.[2] The cry wapen!, first a call to arms to pursue a criminal, became an exclamation of grief or outrage, as in a text of 1301: “alas, I have murdered this man”.[10][12] The rallying cry te wapen! renders Latin ad arma.[13] Modern Dutch also uses wapen for a branch of the armed forces.[14][1]

In the sense “coat of arms, badge” Dutch wapen was borrowed into Javanese (bapem) and Makassarese (bâpeng), for a metal badge worn on the chest.[15]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – The collective geuuepene “armament” appears in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2]
  • c. 1100 – The Egmond Willeram has wighwaphane “weapons of war”.[2]
  • c. 1151 – The Werden fragments use wāpan for an instrument of torture.[7]
  • 1237 – A Ghent ordinance mentions mordadech wapin, a murderous weapon.[8][9]
  • 1240 – The Bernardus glossary has wapen, and the verb wapennen “to arm”.[2]
  • 1301 – Wapene is used as a cry of grief.[10]
  • 1340–1360 – Wapen means “coat of arms”.[2]
  • 1549 – A proverb uses wapen for a workman's tools.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A weapon, an object for fighting or for defending oneself: De politie vond het wapen in een sloot.[14][1]
  2. A coat of arms, the heraldic sign of a family, region, town or country.[14][1][16]
  3. A branch of the armed forces with a particular combat role.[14][1]

Word family

  • wapenen
  • ontwapenen
  • vuurwapen
  • kernwapen
  • moordwapen
  • familiewapen
  • stadswapen
  • wapenfeit
  • wapenbroeder
  • wapenhandel
  • wapenkunde
  • wapenrok
  • wapperen
  • English weapon
  • German Waffe
  • German Wappen

Usage notes

Een balk in zijn wapen voeren “to bear a bar in one's arms” is to be illegitimate, after the heraldic mark for a bastard line, and hoog in zijn wapen zijn is to be proud.[17][18] Iemand met zijn eigen wapens bestrijden is to use someone's own arguments against him.[14]

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 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 c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  6. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  10. ^ a b c Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut
  13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
  14. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  16. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
  17. ^ Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
  18. ^ Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden