plug (“stopper” or, as a verb, “stop (a hole)”): from plugge, meaning “stopper”Ģ2. morass (“boggy or muddy ground” or, by extension, “complicated or confused situation”): from marasch, meaning “swamp,” partly based on the Old French word marais, meaning “marsh”Ģ1. maelstrom (“whirlpool” or, by extension, “confused situation”): from maalstroom, meaning “grinding current” or “strong current” (the second element of the word is cognate with stream) possibly based on an Old Norse wordĢ0. keelhaul (“punish by dragging over the keel”): from kielhalen, meaning “keel hauling”ġ9. keel (“spine or structure projecting from a hull”): from kielġ7. jib (“spar”): from gijben, meaning “boom”ġ6. hoist (“lift” as a noun or a verb): from hijsenġ5. filibuster (“obstructive act” or, as a verb, “obstruct”): from vrijbuiter by way of the Spanish word filibuster (see freebooter above), which in turn comes from the French word flibustierġ4. freight (“shipped goods” or, as a verb, “ship goods”): from a word variously spelled fraght, vracht, and vrecht and meaning “water transport” the Dutch word is also the source of fraught, meaning “heavy” or “weighed down”ġ3. freebooter (“pirate”): from vrijbuiter, meaning “robber” the second half of the word is related to booty, also derived from Dutchġ2. dredge (“riverbed or seabed scoop” or, as a verb, “drag” or “scoop”): perhaps based on dregghe, meaning “dragnet”ġ1. dock (“mooring structure for vessels” or, as a verb “tie up at a dock”): from docke, meaning “pier”ġ0.
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deck (“any of various floors of a ship”): from dek, meaning “covering”ĩ. cruiser (“warship larger than a destroyer but smaller than a battleship,” or “pleasure motorboat”): from kruisen (related to kruis, meaning “cross”), meaning “sail across or go through”Ĩ.
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commodore (“senior captain” or “naval officer above a captain in rank”): probably from kommandeur, ultimately from the Old French word comandeor, meaning “commander”ħ.
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caboose (“the last car on a freight train, used for the accommodation for the train’s crew”): from kabuis or kombuis, meaning “galley,” or “ship’s kitchen”Ħ. buoy (“marker” or, as a verb, “mark with a buoy” or “keep afloat”): from buoy, ultimately from the Latin word boia, meaning “shackle”ĥ. brackish (“salty”): from brac (or a Low German cognate), meaning “salty”Ĥ. bow (“front of a ship”): from boeg (or from Old German or Old Norse)ģ. avast (“stop”): from hou vast, meaning “hold fast”Ģ. Here’s a list of many of these terms (a few of which were adopted from, or may derive from cognates in, other languages) and their definitions and their Dutch origins.ġ. 30 English Words Borrowed from Dutch By Mark Nicholĭuring much of the 1600s, the Netherlands was a world power, especially at sea, and this influence contributed to the English language in the form of borrowings from Dutch into English of various nautically and aquatically themed words.