TNTL 113

F. de Tollenaere

Etymologica: bekaaier. Een woord uit de oude zeilvaart

Abstract - In his article bekaaien, published in the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal circa 1897, A. Kluyver did not mention bekaaier, a word that looks like a derivative of the verb bekaaien. He relegated it to a separate entry followed by the cross-reference 'Zie Pegaaier'. In 1918, about twenty years later, it befell G. J. Boekenoogen, editor of part XII,I of the Dutch dictionary, to treat the entry Pegaaier, Pagaaier. At his disposal were merely two quotations: the first, bekayer from the year 1697, and a second pagaaijer, with the date 1858. In Boekenoogen's opinion the derivation of the word was uncertain. The old sense of the verb bekaaien, viz. 'to lock in', however, enables us to draw a plausible etymology of the old sailing term bekaaier 'mizen yard lift'.