mevrouw Dutch · revision 37417

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1431–1436, Middle Dutch}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /məˈvrɑu̯/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mevrouw''' ''f'' (plural mevrouwen, diminutive mevrouwtje n)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle Dutch has ''mevrouwe'', ''mevrauwe'' and ''mervrauwe'', and the older form ''mijnvrouwe''.^(MNW)^(EWN) Afrikaans has ''mevrou''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|dum|mevrouwe]], [[af|dum|mijn|vrouwe|t1=my|t2=lady, mistress]], from ⟨mijn vrouwe⟩ with the unstressed, shortened possessive.^(EWN)^(De Vries 1971)^(Franck & Van Wijk 1912)^(MNW) It was used as a title for the lady of the land or another woman of rank, on the model of [[meneer]] from ⟨mijn heer⟩.^(EWN) Its parts are the modern [[mijn]] and [[vrouw]], and ⟨vrouwe⟩ originally meant “ruler, mistress”, then “noblewoman, lady”.^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997) The Middle Dutch Dictionary compares [[fr|madame]] and [[m|fr|mademoiselle]].^(MNW)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The phrase ''mine vrouwe die coninghinne'' “my lady the queen” is found in 1300–1325, and ''an mer vrouwen'' “to my mistress”, still with an inflected pronoun, in 1343–1344.^(EWN) The fused title is first recorded in 1431–1436, in a record of a debt owed to ''mervrauwen van Ghistelle''.^(MNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)^(Van Veen & Van der Sijs 1997)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle Dutch noble or otherwise important women were called ''vrouwe'';^(EWN) ''mevrouw'' came into use later.^(EWN) The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal notes that the phrase literally meant “my mistress”: in a play by Everaert (1526) an apprentice calls his master's wife so, but early on ''mevrouwe'' became a title, the equivalent of [[m|fr|madame]].^(WNT) In the 17th century mystical writings used it of the Virgin Mary.^(WNT)

+

+ The title then spread down the social scale.^(MNW)^(EWN) An ordinance of 1595 forbids vassals to have their wives called ''Me-vrouwe'', and by 1906 in the northern Netherlands every married woman of somewhat genteel standing was ''mevrouw'', where she would earlier have been ''juffrouw''.^(WNT) In the 20th century it became the usual title of any married woman, set against [[juffrouw]] for an unmarried one, and after the Second World War, when the distinction was dropped, the title of every adult woman.^(EWN) In Belgium a married noblewoman was still ''mevrouw'' in the early 20th century, while other married women were ''madam''.^(WNT)

+

+ The word travelled with Dutch speakers: it was borrowed into Frisian as ''mefrou'', into South African English as ''mevrou'' through Afrikaans, and into Indonesian, Javanese (''mepro''), several Malay varieties and Sranan Tongo (''ifrow'').^(Van der Sijs 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1300–1325 – ''Mine vrouwe die coninghinne'' “my lady the queen” is recorded.^(EWN)

+ * 1431–1436 – The title is first recorded in the fused form ''mervrauwe''.^(MNW)^(Van der Sijs 2001)

+ * 1488 – ''Mevrauwe Marye'' is named in a grant of rights.^(EWN)

+ * 1526 – An apprentice in a play by Everaert calls his master's wife ''me vrouwe''.^(WNT)

+ * 1566 – ''Me-Vrouwe'' is used to address a highborn woman.^(WNT)

+ * 1595 – An ordinance forbids vassals' wives to be called ''Me-vrouwe''.^(WNT)^(EWN)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|madam]], the polite title and form of address for a woman: ''Goedemiddag, mevrouw, kan ik u helpen?''^(Van Dale 2014)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(historical)'' The title of a noblewoman or a woman of high rank.^(WNT)^(EWN)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mevrouwtje]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[meneer]]

+ * [[juffrouw]]

+ * [[vrouw]]

+ * [[mijn]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}