zaak

Forms

zaak f (plural zaken, diminutive zaakje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch sake, inherited from Old Dutch saka, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *saku, inherited from Proto-Germanic *sakō- (“quarrel, lawsuit”).^[2][1][3] The same word is Old Saxon saka, Old High German sahha (modern German Sache), Old Frisian seke (modern West Frisian saak), Old English sacu (modern English sake) and Old Norse sǫk (modern Swedish sak), all first meaning “strife, feud, lawsuit”.^[2][4][3] Beside it stood *sakjōn-, which gave Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌾𐍉 (sakjō, “strife, quarrel”).^[2][5]

The noun is formed from the strong verb Proto-Germanic *sakaną (“to quarrel at law, accuse”), continued in Old Saxon sakan, Old High German sahhan, Old English sacan and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to quarrel”).^[2][4][3] Dutch has kept that verb only with a prefix, in verzaken, like English forsake.^[2][4]

The Philippa dictionary thinks the legal sense of the verb probably goes back, through “to conduct an inquiry”, to a more general “to track down, search out”.^[2] The word is then related by ablaut to zoeken and further to Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to lead the way”) and Old Irish -saig (“seeks”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂ǵ- (“to follow a track”).^[2][4] De Vries took the starting point to be an old hunters' term for following a scent, from which both “to fight” and “to bring a charge” developed.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest records are in the Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century: the enemies bend their bow, saca bittera, “a bitter matter”, and the psalmist says sunder saca gerihtoda ik herta min, “in vain I kept my heart clean”, where sunder saca means “without reason”.^[2][7] Van der Sijs dates the legal sense “lawsuit” to the 8th-century Lex Salica.^[8] In Middle Dutch the word is first found in a Ghent charter of 1237 that speaks of saken uan haueleker scult, lawsuits over money debts.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “strife, lawsuit” is still alive, above all in compounds such as rechtszaak and moordzaak.^[2] From it the word early took on wider meanings: “matter, affair”, as in si dat sake dat, “if it happens that” (1254), and “cause, reason”, as in om wat saken, “why” (1265–1270).^[2][9] The sense “cause” is lost today except in the derivative oorzaak.^[2] Middle Dutch also used sake for “a deed”, as in a text of 1300–1325 in which the speakers nearly did an evil deed to a man.^[2]

From “deed” came “transaction, trade” in the 18th century (1760), then business activities in general (1862) and, in the 19th century, “firm” and “shop”, as in kledingzaak (1880).^[2] The most general meaning the word has reached is “anything that is not a person or animal”.^[2] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal still records phrases of the old sense “dispute”, such as een zaak in der minne schikken, to settle a quarrel amicably (1655).^[6] De zaak van een ogenblik is a translation of French l'affaire d'un moment,^[10] and de zaak is een belangrijke follows English the matter is an important one.^[11]

The word passed into Negerhollands as saake and saek, into Sranan Tongo as sâk “matter, affair” and into Surinamese Javanese as sag.^[12][1]

Timeline

• 701–800 – The legal sense “lawsuit” in the Lex Salica.^[8]
• 901–1000 – Old Dutch saca “matter” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[2][7][8]
• 1237 – Middle Dutch sake “lawsuit” in a Ghent charter.^[2][9]
• 1265–1270 – Om wat saken “for what reason, why”.^[2]
• 1760 – The sense “transaction, trade”.^[2]
• 1862 – Zaken “business activities”.^[2]
• 1880 – The sense “firm, business”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thing, an object or an idea, anything that is not a person: ik heb mijn zaken al ingepakt.^[13][1][14]
2. A matter or affair, something one has to deal with: dat is mijn zaak niet.^[13][1][14]
3. A transaction, business done: zaken doen, to do business;^[13][14] zaken zijn zaken, business is business.^[13][14]
4. A business, firm or shop: hij heeft een zaak in fietsen.^[13][1][14]
5. (law) A court case, lawsuit: de zaak komt volgende maand voor.^[13][1][14]
6. (law) A piece of property, a good that can form part of an estate.^[13][14]

Word family

• inzake
• bijzaak
• broodjeszaak
• erezaak
• fraudezaak
• halszaak
• hoofdzaak
• juwelierszaak
• kledingzaak
• moordzaak
• zaakvoerder
• oorzaak
• zakelijk
• rechtszaak
• zakenman

Related words

• verzaken
• zoeken
• English sake
• German Sache

Usage notes

Ter zake and inzake mean “concerning”, and ter zake doen is “to matter”.^[13][1] The Dutch ministries are named with the plural, as in Buitenlandse Zaken, Foreign Affairs.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u 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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Vreese, Willem de (1899), Gallicismen in het Zuidnederlandsch, Gent: Siffer
11. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2005), Groot leenwoordenboek, Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
14. ^ a b c d e f g WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org