dij

Betekenis (English)

Noun

thigh

Pron

Second-person singular, objective: thee

Synonyms

bovenbeen

bil

dijbeen

bout

heup

Uitgesproken als (IPA)

/dɛi̯/

Etymologie (English)

Inherited from Middelnederlands: die

Inherited from Old Dutch: *thio

Cognate with Fries: tsjea

Cognate with Engels: thigh

Cognate with IJslands: þjó

In summary

From Middle Dutch die, from Old Dutch *thio, from Proto-West Germanic *þeuh, from Proto-Germanic *þeuhą. Compare West Frisian tsjea, English thigh, Icelandic þjó.
The expected modern form would be *die. The diphthongised form may have originated in the plural, where Middle Dutch dien could easily become dîen. Note the variant knijen for knieën in Early Modern Dutch. In the case of dij, the diphthong was likely reinforced by desire to avoid homophony with die (pronoun).