Dutch

• (abbreviation): Du.

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 tuath.

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 sense is said to come from the ingenuity of poor Germanic immigrants settling in the Anglosphere in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

• enPR: dŭch, IPA^(key): /dʌt͡ʃ/

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• Rhymes: -ʌtʃ

Dutch (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to the Netherlands, the Dutch people or the Dutch language.
2. (archaic, regional, fossil word) Pertaining to Germanic-speaking peoples on the European continent, chiefly the Dutch, the Germans, and the Goths; Teutonic; Germanic. Especially refers to Germans, and specific use to established German-speaking communities in parts of the USA.
3. (obsolete, fossil word, derogatory) Substitute, inferior, ersatz.
4. (dated) Thrifty.
5. (South Africa, derogatory, ethnic slur) Pertaining to Afrikaner culture (Cape Dutch).

Dutch

1. The main language of the Netherlands and Flanders (i.e., the northern half of Belgium); Netherlandic.
2. (archaic) German; the main language of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany, Austria, Alsace, Luxembourg).

(language of Netherlands and Flanders):

• Netherlandic, Netherlandish

(language of Netherlands and Flanders):

• Low Franconian

• → Hindi: डच (ḍac)

Dutch pl (plural only)

1. (collective) The people of the Netherlands, or one of certain ethnic groups descending from the people of the Netherlands.

   The Dutch will vote on the matter next month.

   In upstate New York, the Dutch continued to speak their language into the nineteenth century.

2. (collective, South Africa, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) Afrikaner people (Cape Dutch).
3. (collective) The Pennsylvania Dutch people.

Dutch (third-person singular simple present Dutches, present participle Dutching, simple past and past participle Dutched)

1. To treat cocoa beans or powder with an alkali solution to darken the color and lessen the bitterness of the flavor.
   • 2015, Deb Wise, Incredibly Decadent Desserts: 100 Divine Treats Under 300 Calories:

     Dutch processed is made from cocoa beans that have been treated with an alkalized solution. You'll get a deeper color and a great chocolaty flavor, but more importantly, the process of Dutching the chocolate renders the powder neutral.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Dutch terms
• Appendix:Dutch Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Dutch

• Dutch - English Dictionary: from Webster's Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition.
• ISO 639-1 code nl, ISO 639-3 code nld (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Dutch, nld ⁠