TNTL 110

F. de Tollenaere

Etymologica: bekaaid en bekaaien

Abstract - The article Bekaaien by A. Kluyver, which appeared in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal about 1897, drew up an unsatisfactory picture of the original meaning and sense-development of the word. Consequently, N. van Wijk in his etymological dictionary (1912), called every derivation of bekaaid zijn 'to be left in the cold' either doubtful or improbable. He mentioned, however, a meaning 'captive' which might have been the key to a satisfying etymology. The old sense of bekaaien, viz. 'to lock in' to be found at the beginning of the seventeenth century, makes it possible to link bekaaien (1609), not only to Middle Dutch becayen 'to enclose a piece of low-lying land by dikes' of which the sense 'to lock in' is an extension, but also to Swedish bekaja (1526) 'to ensnare'.