wacht Dutch · revision 37201

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=9th century, Old Dutch (in a Latin text)|origins=gem-pro *wakaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʋɑxt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''wacht''' ''f'' (plural wachten, diminutive wachtje n)^(Wiktionary)

+ In the sense “guard, watchman” the noun is masculine, and the plural can then also be ''wachts''.^(WNT)^(ANW)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|wachte]], [[inh|odt|wahta]], [[inh|gem-pro|*wahtwō|t=watch, vigil]].^(EWN)^(Wiktionary)^(De Vries 1971) The same noun is [[osx|wahta]] (Middle Low German ⟨wachte⟩), [[goh|wahta]] (modern [[de|Wacht]]) and [[fy|wacht]], which point to Germanic ⟨*wahtō-⟩, while [[got|𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍅𐍉|tr=wahtwō]] continues a variant ⟨*wahtwō-⟩.^(EWN)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|425) It was formed on the root ⟨*wak-⟩ of [[waken|t=to be awake, keep watch]], with Germanic ⟨*-kt-⟩ becoming ⟨*-ht-⟩.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(ONW) Wiktionary analyses it as [[m|gem-pro|*wakaną|t=to wake]] with the suffix [[m|gem-pro|*-þwō]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Its Frankish form [[m|frk|*wahta]] was borrowed into Old French, where it gave [[m|fro|guaite|t=watchman]] (about 1135), in the north ⟨waite⟩, and early on a verb [[m|fro|waiter|t=to keep watch]] (about 1090); modern French has [[m|fr|guetter|t=to lie in wait for]].^(EWN)^(ONW)

+

+ ==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.^(EWN)^(ONW) It also forms the place name ''Wagtebeke'' (Wachtebeke near Ghent), recorded in 1198.^(ONW) Middle Dutch ''wagte'' is first recorded around 1240 in Limburg, glossing Latin ''excubiae'' and ''custodia'', “watch, guarding”.^(VMNW)^(EWN)

+

+ ==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”.^(VMNW)^(EWN) 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.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|425)^(EWN) Van der Sijs dates the sense “group of people who guard something” to 1522.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ 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.^(WNT) 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 [[m|de|warten]] once meant “to keep watch”.^(EWN)^(Pluim 1911)

+

+ 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.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(WNT) The curse ''loop naar de wacht!'', “go away!”, has lost its literal sense.^(Van Sterkenburg 2001)

+

+ Danish ''vagt'' and Norwegian and Swedish ''vakt'' were borrowed from Dutch or Low German, and passed on to Finnish ''vahti''.^(Van der Sijs 2010) Polish ''wachta'' and Russian ''vachta'' came from Dutch or German.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(EWN) The word also lived on in Negerhollands and in Afrikaans [[m|af|wag]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 9th century – Old Dutch ''uuagtas'' “guards, watches” appears in a Latin text.^(EWN)^(ONW)

+ * 1198 – The place name ''Wagtebeke'' is recorded.^(ONW)

+ * c. 1240 – Middle Dutch ''wagte'' is first recorded, in Limburg.^(VMNW)^(EWN)

+ * 1285 – ''Die wachte houden'' “to keep watch” and the sense “body of guards” appear in West Flemish texts.^(VMNW)

+ * 1522 – The sense “group of people who guard something” is dated.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1658 – The word is used of the watches of a ship's crew.^(WNT)

+ * 1836 – ''Iemand de wacht aanzeggen'' is recorded.^(WNT)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|guard]], someone who keeps watch.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|watch]], the duty of guarding: ''de wacht houden'', to keep watch.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+ # The time during which someone is on guard: ''Zijn wacht begint om middernacht.''^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # A body of guards: ''wisseling van de wacht'', the changing of the guard, also of new office-holders taking over.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(nautical)'' Each of the divisions of a ship's crew that keep watch in turns.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WNT)

+ # A [[m|en|guardhouse|alt=guard post]].^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wachthuis]]

+ * [[wachtpost]]

+ * [[wachttoren]]

+ * [[wachtvolk]]

+ * [[buitenwacht]]

+ * [[rijkswacht]]

+ * [[schildwacht]]

+ * [[wachtbij]]

+ * [[wachtcommandant]]

+ * [[wachtdienst]]

+ * [[wachtlokaal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[waken]]

+ * [[wachten]]

+ * [[wakker]]

+ * [[de|Wacht]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Wacht'' is also the stem and imperative of the verb [[wachten]] “to wait”, as in ''wacht even!''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(EWN) In Surinamese Dutch ''de Jonge Wacht'' was a Catholic youth organisation, later merged into the scouts.^(Van Donselaar 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}