wereld

Forms

wereld f or m (plural werelden, diminutive wereldje n)^[1] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal also records the form wareld.^[2] Middle Dutch spelled it werelt, werlt and warelt.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch werelt, inherited from Old Dutch werolt, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, inherited from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz.^[4][1][5] The same word is Old Saxon werold, Old High German weralt (modern German Welt), Old Frisian wrald (modern West Frisian wrâld) and Old English weorold (modern English world), all meaning “life, time, lifetime, mankind, world”.^[4][6][7] Old Norse verǫld is recorded late and may have been borrowed from Old English.^[4][6]

It is a Germanic compound of *weraz (“man”), seen in weerwolf and related to Latin vir (“man”), and *aldiz (“age, lifetime”).^[4][6][2][1] The second part survives as Old English ield, ǫld and Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (alds, “lifetime, age”), and in the plurals eldi and aldir (“people”); it belongs with the adjective oud.^[4][6][7] The compound thus first meant “lifetime of man”, from which came “age, eternity” and “the earth we live on”, as against the hereafter.^[4][8] Van Haeringen argued that the sense “mankind” need not be secondary but could go back directly to the root meaning “to nourish, make grow” from which that adjective comes.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century use the word to translate Latin saeculum, in the time sense: Uuonon sal ic an selethon thinro an uueroldi, “I shall dwell in your dwelling in eternity”.^[4][5] The Williram of about 1100 speaks of thiro wereld arbeyde, “the burdens of worldly life”.^[4] In Middle Dutch it is first found in Ghent in 1236, of people who wish to return to the world after entering religious life.^[4][10]

Semantic evolution

The time sense remained strong in Middle Dutch: werelt could still mean “eternity”, an “age”, and an era of a thousand years, as in a 15th-century text on the six ages of the world.^[3] Beside it were the senses “the earth” and “mankind”, as in a text of 1265–70 on what al die werelt “all mankind” must suffer.^[4][10] From the 16th century the WNT records the sense “the universe, heaven and earth”, and a book of 1570 asks whether there are many worlds or only one.^[2]

Several phrases are loan translations: de wereld wil bedrogen worden of Latin mundus vult decipi, de derde wereld of French tiers monde, de nieuwe wereld of Spanish nuevo mundo.^[11] Proverbs with the word are old: ondank is 's werelds loon “ingratitude is the world's reward”, and de brutalen hebben de halve wereld, which Coornhert in the 16th century gave as two thirds of the world.^[12][13] The word was borrowed into Negerhollands, and Afrikaans has wêreld.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – The Wachtendonck Psalms use Old Dutch werolt, werilt for Latin saeculum.^[4][5][15]
• c. 1100 – The Williram has wereld “worldly life”.^[4]
• 1236 – Middle Dutch werelt, “secular life”, is recorded in Ghent.^[4][10]
• 1265–70 – Al die werelt is used for all mankind.^[4]
• 1503 – Werelt is used of the created universe.^[2]
• 16th century – Coornhert records the proverb on the shameless owning two thirds of the world.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. the world, the earth, the planet we live on: een reis om de wereld.^[13][16][1]
2. a self-contained order, physical or not, a world of its own: de wereld van de dromen.^[13][17]
3. society, mankind, or the community of a cultural sphere: de westerse wereld.^[13][17]
4. the circle in which a person moves, a milieu: de wereld van het theater.^[13][17]

Word family

• wereldlijk
• werelds
• wereldling
• wereldwijd
• wereldbeeld
• wereldbeschouwing
• wereldberoemd
• wereldbol
• wereldburger
• werelddeel
• wereldoorlog
• wereldkampioen
• onderwereld
• wereldvreemd

Related words

• weerwolf
• oud
• English world
• German Welt

Usage notes

Alleen op de wereld staan means to have no family or friends, and iemand naar de andere wereld helpen is to kill someone.^[13] Voor God en de wereld is “for everyone to see”.^[13] De Vreese criticised een wereld van … for “a great quantity of …” as an imitation of French un monde de.^[18] In Maastricht the word is wair(r)eld.^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
6. ^ a b c d Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
8. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 436
9. ^ Haeringen, C. B. van (1936), Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal: Supplement, 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
10. ^ 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
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
12. ^ a b Stoett, F. A. (1923–1925), Nederlandsche spreekwoorden, spreekwijzen, uitdrukkingen en gezegden, 4th ed., 3 vols., Zutphen: Thieme
13. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
15. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
16. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
17. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
18. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
19. ^ Aarts, Flor (2017), Etymologisch dictionairke vaan 't Mestreechs, Maastricht