vrouw

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from Dutch vrouw. Doublet of frau, frow, and vrou. === Noun === vrouw (plural vrouws or vrouwen) A Dutchwoman. == Dutch == === Etymology === From Middle Dutch vrouwe, from Old Dutch frouwa, vrouwa, from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ. Vrouw replaced wijf as a neutral descriptor for a woman in the Early Modern period (see there for more), whereas vrouw mostly referred to well-off or aristocratic women in Middle Dutch. (In this latter sense, vrouw was itself superseded by dame, although the archaic form vrouwe is fossilized with the same aristocratic meaning.) === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /vrɑu̯/ Hyphenation: vrouw Rhymes: -ɑu̯ === Noun === vrouw f (plural vrouwen, diminutive vrouwtje n or vrouwetje n or vrouwke n) woman wife Synonym: echtgenote ==== Usage notes ==== As with English woman, usage of this word as a term of address (typically reserved for the sense "wife") is now mostly considered dated and somewhat patronizing (albeit not as offensive as the diminutive vrouwtje), particularly when said by a man to a woman. Despite the above, among some women a different, positive usage as term of address (referring to the sense "woman") is gaining ground, as in: Vrouw, wat zie je er goed uit! ― Girl, you look so good today! This usage is similar to the usage of girl as a term of address among women and girls in English, albeit the Dutch term is used mostly by adult women among themselves. In this sense it is unlike similar terms of address such as meid, which is applicable to both women and girls and is commonly used by both genders. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== Afrikaans: vrou→ English: vrou Negerhollands: vro, vrou, frou, fru, vrow → Virgin Islands Creole: fru (dated) → Aukan: folow → English: vrouw → Sranan Tongo: frow === References ===