Den Haag

Dutch

Een plein in het centrum van Den Haag, met een standbeeld van Willem de Zwijger.
A square in the center of The Hague, with a statue of William the Silent.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch die Haghe (“the enclosure”), from hage (m, later also f, “enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-Germanic *hagô. First attested in 1242 as die haga. The article form den is dative/accusative, generalized in the modern name because of its use after prepositions, e.g. in den Haghe (“in The Hague”). Compare Den Bosch, Den Hoorn etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn ˈɦaːx/
• (Netherlands)

  audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Den Haag
• Rhymes: -aːx

Proper noun

Den Haag n

1. The Hague (a city, municipality, and capital of South Holland, Netherlands; administrative capital of the Netherlands)

   Synonyms: (officialese) 's-Gravenhage, (nicknames) Agga, Hofstad, stad achter de duinen

   Meronym: Haagoord

2. (figuratively, metonymically) The national government or administrative authority of the Netherlands

Usage notes

• While den is etymologically a masculine article, the city name is neuter insofar as one says e.g. het mooie Den Haag (“beautiful The Hague”).

Derived terms

• Hagenaar
• Hagenees
• Haagweg

Descendants

• → German: Den Haag
• → Sranan Tongo: Aga
  • → Dutch: Agga
• → West Frisian: De Haach

References

• van Berkel, Gerard, Samplonius, Kees (2018) “den haag”, in Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard‎^[1] (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

German

Etymology

From Middle Dutch die haghe (“the enclosure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnˈhaːx/, /dɛnˈhaːk/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Den Haag n (proper noun, genitive Den Haags or (optionally with an article) Den Haag)

1. The Hague (a city and capital of South Holland, Netherlands; administrative capital of the Netherlands)