gezellig
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ɡəˈzɛlɪɡ/
- (semi-learned) IPA(key): /həˈzɛlə/, /hɛ-/, /-lɪk/
- (learned) IPA(key): /xəˈzɛlə/, /xəˈzɛləx/
Adjective
[edit]gezellig (comparative more gezellig or gezelliger, superlative most gezellig or gezelligest)
- Having a pleasant, cozy, or sociable atmosphere; inviting and convivial. [late 20th c.]
- 1996, Loren Barritt, “Chapter 8. School Should be Gezellig”, in An Elementary School in Holland: Experiment in Educational Practice[1], International Books, pages 160–178:
- The Team's collective sense of responsibility was expended in the effort to create a gezellig environment for the children and one another. … This list is typical of the insight the Team had into the learnings buried inside the expressive arts they fostered. Though they talked often of their desire to maintain a gezellig environment in the school, and took great pain as well as pleasure in doing it, the goal of gezelligheid served other ends as well.
- 2014 March 25, Barack Obama, “Press Conference with President Obama and Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands”, in The White House[2][3]:
- I’m told there’s a Dutch word that captures this spirit, which doesn’t translate exactly into English. But let me say that my first visit to the Netherlands has been truly gezellig.
- 2024 July 14, “Always a winner - Review of Meneer De Wit Heeft Honger, Amsterdam, The Netherlands”, in Tripadvisor[4]:
- Consistently excellent and inventive food in a very relaxed and gezellig environment.
Usage notes
[edit]Not in general use; evokes something considered quintessentially Dutch or having an "untranslatable" or "intangible" quality.[1] [2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Dutch
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle Dutch gesellich, equivalent to gezel + -ig. Cognate with German gesellig.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]gezellig (comparative gezelliger, superlative gezelligst)
- having an inviting and friendly ambiance; cozy, nice, pleasant, sociable, convivial
- 1760, “Groot-Britannie”, in Middelburgsche courant, number 21, page 1:
- Voor 7 jaren werd hy van eene beroerte aangetast, doch herſtelde in 6 weken, en behield alleen een weinig belemmering in de ſpraak, het welk zyn onderhoud moejelyker maakte; doch hy bleef even gezellig.
- Seven years ago he suffered a stroke, yet he recovered in 6 weeks, and retained only a small impediment in his speech, which made his basic needs difficult to fulfill; yet he stayed just as pleasant.
- 1899, “Zuipreglement”, in Het volksdagblad, number 1110, page 2:
- En het is niet behoorlijk door dwang het gezellig samenzijn te doen ontaarden in ruwe zuipgelagen, waarbij de groenen als lijken moeten worden weggedragen.
- And it is not proper to turn a cozy get-together by force into a crude drinking party, where greenhorns have to be carried away like corpses.
- 1966, “Snippers”, in De nieuwe Limburger, number 181, page 5:
- In de lokalen van het WMC-secretariaat is het reuze gezellig. Daar draaien meisjes plaatjes tijdens het werk en denken stoute jongetjes grappige plannetjes uit.
- It's very sociable in the offices of the WMC secretariat. There, girls listen to records during worktime and the naughty boys think of funny plans.
- (archaic, of a person) inclined to seek the company of others
Declension
[edit]Declension of gezellig | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | gezellig | |||
inflected | gezellige | |||
comparative | gezelliger | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | gezellig | gezelliger | het gezelligst het gezelligste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | gezellige | gezelligere | gezelligste |
n. sing. | gezellig | gezelliger | gezelligste | |
plural | gezellige | gezelligere | gezelligste | |
definite | gezellige | gezelligere | gezelligste | |
partitive | gezelligs | gezelligers | — |
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- Matthias de Vries, Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864) “gezellig”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Dutch
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with /x/
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms suffixed with -ig
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adjectives
- Dutch terms with quotations
- Dutch terms with archaic senses