meneer Dutch · revision 37265

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1271–1272, Middle Dutch}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /məˈneːr/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''meneer''' ''m'' (plural meneren, diminutive meneertje n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older written form [[mijnheer]] long remained usual in formal address;^(EWN)^(WNT) ''menheer'' and ''meheer'' are also found.^(EWN)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|mijnhere]], [[af|dum|mijn|here|t1=my|t2=lord, master]], a combination of [[mijn]] and [[heer]] used as the title of the ruler of a land or of another man of rank.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)^(Wiktionary) The combination was already felt as one word in the 13th century: a text of 1291 has ⟨bi mijn here diedrike⟩ with an uninflected ⟨mijn⟩ in the dative instead of ⟨minen⟩.^(EWN) Its unstressed first syllable was then weakened to /ə/, as the late Middle Dutch spelling ⟨men heer⟩ (1432) shows.^(EWN) The spelling ⟨meneer⟩ came into use in the 19th century for “a (respectable) man”;^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) Van Veen and Van der Sijs date ⟨men heer⟩ to 1669 and ⟨meneer⟩ to 1871, and the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal quotes ⟨Meneer⟩ from 1840.^(EWN)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ The formation is like that of English [[m|en|milord]], and French [[m|fr|monsieur]] is a parallel the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal compares.^(Wiktionary)^(WNT)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record is ''mijn her berthoude'', “my lord Bertoud”, in 1271–1272, a title before a name.^(EWN)^(VMNW) An allegory of 1350–1400 has ''mijnheer Melancolie'', and in 1432 ''men heer Everaerde'' is a knight.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The title was given first to the lord of the land and then to other men of high rank, and gradually to men of lower standing.^(WNT) In 1732 Van Effen described how ''Monsieur'' and ''Seigneur'' were divided among shopkeepers, surgeons, notaries and merchants, and later writers found that everyone a little above the rabble was addressed as ''mynheer''.^(WNT) The word kept a sense of distance: in 1807 a woman drops the “stiff” ''Mijn Heer'' as she grows closer to a man.^(WNT)

+

+ From the 19th century the word is also a common noun: in 1896 ''een meneer'' is simply “a gentleman”.^(EWN) The plural is ''mijne heren'' in formal address and ''meneren'' in everyday use.^(WNT)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Dutch lent the word to Indonesian and Javanese ([[id|menir]]), to Manado, Ambonese and other varieties of Malay (''menèr''), to Papiamentu ([[pap|mener]], also “you”) and to Sranan Tongo (''mineri''), and Afrikaans has [[m|af|meneer]].^(Van der Sijs 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1271–1272 – Middle Dutch ''mijn her'' as a title before a name.^(EWN)^(VMNW)

+ * 1291 – ''Bi mijn here diedrike'', with uninflected ''mijn''.^(EWN)

+ * 1350–1400 – ''Mijnheer Melancolie'' in an allegory.^(EWN)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1432 – The reduced spelling ''men heer''.^(EWN)

+ * 1840 – ''Meneer'' in a quotation in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal.^(EWN)

+ * 1896 – ''Een meneer'' as a common noun, “a gentleman”.^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|sir]], [[m|en|mister]]: a polite title and form of address for a man: ''goedemiddag, meneer'';^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek) ''meneer Jansen''.^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+ # A man, especially a respectable or well-dressed one: ''er staat een meneer aan de deur''.^(EWN)^(WikiWoordenboek)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mijnheer]]

+ * [[mevrouw]]

+ * [[heer]]

+ * [[mijn]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Een grote meneer'' is a man who thinks a lot of himself, and the saying ''de krant is een meneer'' warns that a newspaper is only one man's opinion.^(Van Dale 2014) In the dialect of Maastricht ''meneer'' is a separate word meaning “manner, way of acting”, from Middle Dutch ''maniere'' (1236), borrowed from French ''manière''.^(Aarts 2017)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}