Dutch words borrowed into English (original) (raw)
Dutch origins can be found in the following English cognates. However, note that this list does also include some words of which the etymology is uncertain, and that some may have been derived from Low Saxon equivalents instead or as well.
| English | Dutch | Meaning (if different) |
|---|---|---|
| ahoy | hoi | hello |
| apartheid | apartheid | (via Afrikaans) |
| berm | berm | |
| to bluff | bluffen | to brag |
| boom | boom | tree |
| boss | baas | |
| brandy/ brandy wine | brandewijn | lit. burn wine |
| bundle | bundel | |
| buoy | boei | shackle or buoy |
| to cackle | kakelen | |
| coleslaw | koolsla | |
| cookie | koekje | |
| cruise | (door)kruisen | to cross paths or to cross |
| deck | dek | |
| (boat)dock | dok | |
| to drill | drillen | |
| dike, dyke | dijk | wall to prevent flooding |
| easel | ezel | or. donkey |
| to etch | etsen | |
| (to) filibuster | vrijbuiter | from Spanish filibustero --> French filibustier --> Dutch vrijbuiter, pirate |
| freebooter | vrijbuiter | |
| freight | vracht | |
| frolic | vrolijk | cheerful, gay |
| furlough | verlof | permission (to leave) |
| gas | gas | Neologism from Christiaan Huygens, derived from the Greek "Kaos" |
| gin | genever | |
| to grab | grijpen | to seize, to grasp, to snatch |
| guild | gilde | precursor to unions |
| halibut | heilbot | lit. holy flounder |
| to hoist | hijsen | |
| holster | holster | |
| Hottentot | Hottentot | |
| keel | kiel | |
| to keelhaul | kielhalen | lit. to haul keel |
| knapsack | knapzak | lit. bag of food |
| landscape | landschap | |
| leak | lek | |
| lottery | loterij | |
| maelstrom | maalstroom | |
| manekin | manneken | lit. small man |
| measles | mazelen | |
| morass | moeras | |
| offal | afval | lit. "that which falls off" |
| pump | pomp | |
| quack | kwakzalver | lit. someone who daubs ointments |
| roster | rooster | schedule, or. grating |
| to rove | roven | to rob |
| rucksack | rugzak | lit. back-bag |
| Santa Claus | Sinterklaas | Saint Nicholas |
| scow | schouw | |
| skate, to skate | schaats, schaatsen | |
| sketch | schets | |
| skipper | schipper | lit. shipper |
| sled, sleigh | slede, slee | |
| sloop | sloep | |
| to slurp | slurpen | |
| smack | smak | |
| to smelt | smelten | to melt |
| to smuggle | smokkelen | |
| snuff | snuiftabak | lit. sniff tobacco |
| splinter | splinter | |
| to split | splijten | |
| spook | spook | ghost(ly image) |
| to stoke | stoken | stoke a fire |
| stoop | stoep | pavement/sidewalk |
| stove | stoof | |
| waffle | wafel | |
| wagon | wagen | cart, carriage, wagon |
| yacht | jacht | or. hunt |
| yankee | Jan Kees | Personal name, originally used mockinglyto describe pro-French revolutionary citizens, with allusion to the smallkeeshond dog, then for "colonials" in NewAmsterdam) |
lit.: the literal meaning of the Dutch word (the actual meaning is similar to the English one)
or.: the word originally had the meaning specified, but is in Dutch also used with the same meaning as in English