gouw

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch gou, gau, gō (genitive gooy), from Old Dutch gō, from Proto-West Germanic *gawi, from Proto-Germanic *gawją, a collective form equivalent to ge- (“a prefix that indicates a single collective whole”) +‎ ouwe (“land near water or drenched with water”). Cognate of West Frisian gea, goa, German Gau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɑu̯/

• Audio

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• Hyphenation: gouw
• Rhymes: -ɑu̯
• Homophones: gauw, Gauw

Noun

gouw f (plural gouwen, diminutive gouwtje n or gouwken n)

1. (archaic or historical) shire, geographical and/or administrative region

   Synonyms: streek, landstreek, provincie

   in de Dietse gouwen ― in the Low Countries

   1. (Middle Ages) gau (subdivision of the Frankish and Holy Roman empires)

      Synonym: pagus

      • 1852, L. Ph. C. van den Bergh, A. A. Beekman, H. J. Moerman, Handboek der middel-Nederlandsche geographie, 3rd edition, Nijhof, published 1949, page 5:

        Ten W. van het Vlie lag de „pagus Tyesle”, die zich ook over het noordelijk deel van het tegenwoordige Noordholland uitstrekte, in het Z. tot de gouwen Kinhem (Kennemerland), Wiron (Wieringen) en Westflinge (Westfriesland). In dezelfde Traditiones Fuldenses, die de gouw Tyesle noemen, komt ook een land of streek Thyeslamore of Texlamore voor ⁵).

        West of the Vlie lay "pagus Tyesle", which extended also over the northern part of present-day North Holland, in the south to the shires Kinhem (Kennemerland), Wiron (Wieringen), and Westflinge (Western Frisia). In the same Traditiones Fuldenses, which mention the shire Tyesle, a land or region named Thyeslamore or Texlamore also appears ⁵).

   2. (Nazism) gau (subdivision of the NSDAP and later the Third Reich)

Derived terms

• gouwleider

Related terms

• Gooi

References

• Van Dale, 11. edition (1984)