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 Hāge (“the enclosure”), from hāge (m, later also f, “enclosure, hedge”). 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/

• Audio (Netherlands):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Den Haag
• Rhymes: -aːx

Proper noun

Den Haag n

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

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

   Meronym: Haagoord

   • 1978, “Arm Den Haag”, in Willem Wilmink (lyrics), Harry Bannink (music), Weerzien met Indië‎^[1], performed by Wieteke van Dort:

     Arm Den Haag, dat is toch erg dat jij maar niet vergeten kan / de klank van krontjong en van gamelan / In het Indisch restaurant gonst het gesprek van alle kant / tempo doeloe, tempo doeloe in dat verre, verre land

     Poor The Hague, what a shame you can't seem to forget / the sound of keroncong and gamelan / In the Indonesian restaurant, conversation buzzes from all sides / the good old days, the good old days in that faraway, faraway land

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

Derived terms

• Haags
• Haagweg
• Hagenaar
• Hagenees

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^[2] (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnˈhaːx/, /dɛnˈhaːk/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

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

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