Loanwords in Dutch: How French, English and Other Languages Shaped It
No language grows in isolation, and Dutch is a beautiful example of a magpie tongue — borrowing shiny words from French, English, Latin, Hebrew, Malay and more across centuries of trade, war and culture. For learners, this is great news: many “Dutch” words are ones you already half-know. Here’s a tour of where Dutch got its vocabulary.
French: the language of elegance and bureaucracy
From the 1600s onward, French was the prestige language of European elites — and Dutch absorbed thousands of French words, especially for culture, food and administration:
- bureau (desk/office), paraplu (umbrella), trottoir (pavement)
- cadeau (gift), etalage (shop window), portemonnee (wallet)
- restaurant, menu, saus — much of the food vocabulary
English: the modern flood
Today, English is the biggest source of new Dutch loanwords — especially in tech, business and youth slang. The Dutch don’t translate these; they just adopt them and add Dutch grammar:
- de computer, de manager, de deadline, de meeting
- Verbs get Dutch endings: chillen, liken, googelen, updaten
- Youth slang: chill, random, relaxed
The surprising sources
- Hebrew/Yiddish (via Amsterdam’s Jewish community): mazzel (luck), tof (cool), gozer (guy), jatten (to steal)
- Malay/Indonesian (colonial era): pienter (clever), amok, piekeren (to worry)
- Latin (church & science): countless academic and religious terms
- German: überhaupt, sowieso — borrowed wholesale
Dutch words the world borrowed back
It goes both ways. English took cookie, boss, yacht, coleslaw (koolsla), Santa Claus (Sinterklaas), landscape and skipper straight from Dutch — mostly during the seafaring Golden Age.
You already know more Dutch than you think
Thousands of Dutch words overlap with English and French. Dutch Daily builds on that head start with daily lessons and smart vocabulary practice.
Start learning Dutch →Frequently asked questions
Why does Dutch have so many French words?
French was the prestige language of European elites for centuries, and the southern Low Countries border France. Administration, culture and cuisine borrowed heavily from French.
Is Dutch being taken over by English?
Dutch adopts a lot of English vocabulary, especially in tech and business, but its grammar and core remain firmly Dutch. The language is evolving, not disappearing.
Do loanwords make Dutch easier to learn?
Yes. English and French speakers recognise thousands of Dutch words on sight, which accelerates vocabulary building considerably.