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zat

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Pronunciation

Forms

zat (comparative zatter, superlative zatst)[1] Middle Dutch also has sad and saet.[2][3] North Holland dialects have the inflected form sadde, and dialects have a by-form zadder.[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch sat, inherited from Old Dutch sat, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sad, inherited from Proto-Germanic *sada- (“sated, full”).[2][1][5][6] The same word is Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌸𐍃 (saþs), Old Norse saðr, Old English sæd (modern English sad “sorrowful”), Old Saxon sad, Old High German sat (modern German satt) and West Frisian sêd, all originally “sated”.[2][5][7]

The Germanic adjective is an old past participle of the root Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- (“to satiate, fill”), *sh₂-tó-.[5][2][8] Related words outside Germanic are Latin satis (“enough”) and satur (“sated”) (see satire), Ancient Greek ἄατος (áatos, “insatiable”), Lithuanian sótus (“sated, full”) and Russian сытый (sýtyj, “sated”).[2][9][7]

The /d/ of Old Dutch ⟨sada⟩ (plural) is the regular sound.[2] Because Middle Dutch used the word mostly after the verb, in the uninflected form ⟨sat⟩ with a devoiced final consonant, the ⟨t⟩ was kept and a new inflected form ⟨zatte⟩ arose.[2][8] The old ⟨d⟩ survives in the by-forms ⟨sad⟩ and ⟨saet⟩ and in verzadigen.[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The 10th-century Wachtendonck Psalms say of the wicked of geuuisso ne uuerthint sada in murmulon sulun, “but if they are not sated, they shall murmur”.[2][6] In Middle Dutch sat glosses Latin satur in a Limburg glossary of 1240, and in 1285 a Flemish rhymed Bible says that Titus was weary of fighting: hi was van stride sat.[10][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “drunk” is already present in Middle Dutch: the same rhymed Bible of 1285 has Ahasuerus drink until hi was sad ende vro, “full and merry”.[2][10][3] Van der Sijs dates “drunk” as a sense of its own to 1546, and in modern Dutch it is the usual meaning, while “sated” survives after the verb and in zich zat eten.[11][3][12][4] Kiliaan in 1599 calls a deep, saturated colour satte verwe.[2]

Used as a noun, zijn zat hebben meant “to have had one's fill” in the 17th century, especially in Hooft, and survives in northeastern dialects.[4][3] Colloquially zat also follows a noun in the sense “plenty”.[1][4] English sad went its own way, from “sated, weary” to “sorrowful”.[2][13]

Timeline

  • 901–1000 – Old Dutch sada “sated” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.[2][11]
  • 1240 – Middle Dutch sat glosses Latin satur.[10]
  • 1285 – “Having had enough of something” and “drunk”.[2][10]
  • 1546 – “Drunk”, as a sense of its own.[11]
  • 1599 – Kiliaan's satte verwe, a saturated colour.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (informal) drunk: zo zat als een aap, blind drunk.[12][1]
  2. (predicative) sated, full, having eaten enough.[12][1]
  3. Fed up, having had enough: ik ben dat gezeur zat.[1][10]

Adverb

  1. (informal) Plenty, more than enough, after a noun: we hebben ruimte zat.[1][4]

Word family

  • zatlap
  • spuugzat
  • ladderzat
  • zatterik
  • verzadigen
  • satire
  • English sad
  • German satt

Usage notes

Van Dale lists the similes zo zat als een kanon and zo zat als een Maleier, “blind drunk”.[12]

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 m n o p 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 Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  4. ^ a b c d e 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
  5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
  7. ^ a b Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  9. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
  10. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  12. ^ a b c d Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  13. ^ Vercoullie, Jozef (1925), Beknopt etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 3rd ed., 's-Gravenhage / Gent: Nijhoff / Van Rysselberghe & Rombaut