gek Dutch · revision 37239

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=early 14th century, Middle Dutch (Spiegel historiael)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɣɛk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gek''' adjective (comparative ''gekker'', superlative ''gekst''), noun ''m'' (plural ''gekken'', diminutive ''gekje'' n, feminine ''gekkin'')^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|gec]] (also ⟨ghec⟩, ⟨geck⟩), whose origin is not settled.^(EWN)^(Wiktionary) The adjective is recorded first, in the early 14th century, and the noun “fool” later in the century.^(EWN)^(MNW) The EWN thinks that in Dutch, as in German, the adjective probably grew out of the noun used predicatively, though the reverse cannot be ruled out.^(EWN)

+

+ The same word is [[gml|geck|t=fool; foolish]] and [[gmh|gecke]] (modern [[de|Geck|t=dandy, formerly fool]]).^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) [[sv|gäck]] and [[da|gjæk]] were taken over from Low German, while obsolete [[en|geck|t=simpleton]] (from 1515) came from Low German or Middle Dutch.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Van der Sijs 2010) One view holds that it was a Low German word meaning “court fool” that reached Middle Dutch only in the 14th century;^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971) Teuchert, on the contrary, thought the ⟨Geck⟩ of the Brandenburg Mark was brought there by Dutch settlers.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ It may imitate the noises a fool makes, like [[giechelen]], and South Upper German has mocking words such as ⟨gagg⟩ and ⟨gaggel⟩ for a fool who utters unintelligible sounds.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(De Coster 2007) Wiktionary suggests an imitative verb also found in [[m|sv|gäcka|t=to mock]], and connects [[m|en|geek]].^(Wiktionary) Franck–Van Wijk and De Vries & De Tollenaere instead join it with [[non|geiga|t=to swerve from the right course]] and a dialect word [[no|gigl|t=a person who sways to and fro]], from a Germanic base meaning “to be unstable”, which would also account for the noun for a turning chimney cowl.^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(De Vries & De Tollenaere 2004|136)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The EWN finds this not very probable, and the NEW doubts it.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest example is an adjective in Maerlant's ''Spiegel historiael'' (early 14th century), where it means “wasteful”: ''al was hi somwile gec'', “though he was sometimes extravagant”, said of a man otherwise very mean with his money.^(MNW)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912) The noun is found in 1365 in the north-east for a court fool: five guilders were paid for curing ''den ghek'' of an abscess on his back.^(MNW)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle Dutch the noun meant both “fool, man without sense” and “jester”, and the derivative ''ghecheyt'' “foolishness” is recorded in 1399.^(MNW)^(EWN) The phrase ''iemand voor de gek houden'', older ''voor zijn gek houden'' “to make a fool of someone”, probably refers to the fools that princes kept for their amusement.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal records the noun for a madman and for a fool, a ''gekkenhuis'' “madhouse”, and a second noun ''gek'' “jest” from the verb ''gekken'', as in ''den gek houden''.^(WNT) ''Gekheid'' “a joke” follows in 1785.^(EWN)

+

+ Stoett gives older versions of ''al te goed is buurmans gek'', “too much kindness makes you your neighbour's fool”, from Smetius and Tuinman, and finds ''een gek kan meer vragen dan tien wijzen kunnen beantwoorden'' since the Middle Ages.^(Stoett 1923) Sailors called a part at the top of a wooden pump a ''gek'' (1681), and the turning cowl of a chimney had the name by 1806.^(Winschoten 1681)^(WNT) From the late 1950s ''gek'' could also mean “unusually good”, and ''te gek!'' now means “fantastic”.^(Reinsma 1975)^(Van Dale 2014)

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+ The word spread to West Frisian, Scots ''geck'', Norwegian ''gjekk'' and Negerhollands ''gek'', ''gik''; through Afrikaans it reached South African English.^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary) In Frisian ''gek'' is also a folk name of the gannet.^(Eigenhuis 2004)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 14th century – The adjective ''gec'' “wasteful” appears in the ''Spiegel historiael''.^(MNW)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)

+ * 1365 – The noun ''ghek'' “court fool” is recorded in the north-east.^(MNW)

+ * 1399 – ''Ghecheyt'' “foolishness” is first recorded.^(EWN)

+ * 1401–1450 – ''Gec'' “mad, foolish”, the date in Van der Sijs's chronological dictionary.^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1681 – Winschoten names a pump part ''gek''.^(Winschoten 1681)

+ * 1785 – ''Gekheid'' in the sense “joke”.^(EWN)

+ * 1806 – ''Gek'' for a turning chimney cowl.^(WNT)

+ * 1965 – ''Niet gek'' “not bad” in the magazine ''Hitweek''.^(Reinsma 1975)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(informal)'' [[m|en|crazy]], [[m|en|mad]], insane: ''zo gek als een deur''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|foolish]], showing a lack of good sense.^(Van Dale 2014)

+ # Strange, odd: ''wat een gekke hoed''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # Funny, silly, playful.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Very, intense;^(Van Dale 2014) ''te gek'' “great, fantastic”.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' A [[m|en|madman]], [[m|en|lunatic]].^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|fool]]: ''de gek uithangen''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # A chimney [[m|en|cowl]] that turns with the wind.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A catch on a door handle that keeps it from being opened from outside.^(Van Dale 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gekheid]]

+ * [[gekkin]]

+ * [[gekkerd]]

+ * [[gekkig]]

+ * [[gekken]]

+ * [[gekkenhuis]]

+ * [[gekscheren]]

+ * [[dorpsgek]]

+ * [[stapelgek]]

+ * [[knettergek]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[giechelen]]

+ * [[de|Geck]]

+ * [[en|geek]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Iemand voor de gek houden'' means to fool or tease someone.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Van Dale 2014) ''Gekke Henkie'' and similar names stand for someone easily taken in.^(De Coster 2007) Van Dale records ''al te goed is buurmans gek'' as a warning not to be too obliging, and ''gekken en dwazen schrijven hun namen op deuren en glazen'' against people who write their names everywhere.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Stoett 1923)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}