Dutch

Meaning

Adj

1. Of or pertaining to the Netherlands, the Dutch people or the Dutch language.
2. Pertaining to Germanic-speaking peoples on the European continent, chiefly the Germans (especially established German-speaking communities in parts of the USA), or the Dutch; Teutonic; Germanic.
3. (obsolete) Substitute, inferior, ersatz.
4. Thrifty.
5. Pertaining to Afrikaner culture (Cape Dutch).

Name

1. The main language of the Netherlands, Flanders (i.e., the northern half of Belgium) and Suriname; Netherlandic.
2. German; the main language of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany, Austria, Alsace, Luxembourg).
3. A male given name, more often given as a nickname to someone of Dutch or German ancestry than as an official given name

Noun

1. The people of the Netherlands, or one of certain ethnic groups descending from the people of the Netherlands.
2. Afrikaner people (Cape Dutch).
3. The Pennsylvania Dutch people.

Verb

To treat cocoa beans or powder with an alkali solution to darken the color and lessen the bitterness of the flavor.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dʌt͡ʃ/

Etymology

PIE word
*tewtéh₂
Derived from Middle English Duch (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Middle Low German dütsch, düdesch (“German, Low German, Dutch”) and Middle Dutch dūtsch, duutsc (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Proto-West Germanic *þiudisk, from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (“of one’s people”), derived from *þeudō (“people”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂. Doublet of Deutsch and Doitsu.
Compare Middle English thedisch (“native, endemic”) from Old English þēodisċ (“of one’s people”), Old Saxon thiudisk (German Low German düütsch (“German”)), Old High German diutisc (modern German deutsch (“German”)), modern Dutch Duits (“German”) alongside elevated Diets (“Dutch”) (a secondary distinction, fully accepted only in the 19th century). See also Derrick, Teuton, Teutonic.
The pejorative senses (Dutch courage, Dutch wife, Dutch uncle, etc.) are said to stem from the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the accompanying rivalry.