European nation along the North Sea west of Germany, from Dutch Nederland, literally "lower land" (see nether); said to have been used especially by the Austrians (who ruled much of the southern part of the Low Countries from 1713 to 1795), by way of contrast to the mountains they knew, but the name is older than this. The Netherlands formerly included Flanders and thus were equivalent geographically and etymologically to the Low Countries. Related: Netherlander; Netherlandish (both c. 1600). In German terms, Netherlander is contrasted with Dutch Overlander, German Oberländer.
the customs union of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg, formed October 1947.
"the Netherlands," 1630s, also an adjective, "Dutch" (1670s), old slang, from Dutch Hoog en Mogend "high and mighty," an honorific of the States General of Holland.
c. 1600, "Low Germany and the Netherlands," from the Latin name of the territory occupied by the Belgæ, a Celtic or Celto-Germanic tribe that in Roman times occupied the area below the mouth of the Rhine, including modern Belgium and much of northeastern France. Adopted 1830 as the name of a new nation formed from the southern part of the former United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
"the Netherlands," early 14c., from Dutch Holland, probably Old Dutch holt lant "wood land," describing the district around Dordrecht, the nucleus of Holland. Technically, just one province of the Netherlands, but in English use extended to the whole nation. Related: Hollandish. Hollands for "Holland gin" was common late 18c.-early 19c. As a place-name in England it represents Old English hoh-land "high-land, land on a spur or hill."
former name of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, when it was the Dutch East Indies, a colony of the Netherlands; from Batavia, an ancient name for a region of Holland at the mouth of the Rhine, from Latin Batavi, a people who dwelt between the Rhine and the Waal on the island of Betawe. Related: Batavian.
city in Netherlands, from Dutch Den Haag, short for 's Gravenhage, literally "the count's hedge" (i.e. the hedge-enclosed hunting grounds of the counts of Holland); see haw (n.). In French, it is La Haye.
attested from 1617, originally with reference to Holland; the North American confederation first so called in 1776. United Provinces were the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, allied from 1579, later developing into the kingdom of Holland.
1811, "a book printed by William Caxton (obit c. 1491), English merchant in the Netherlands who learned there the art of printing and introduced it to England. The surname is from the place in Cambridgeshire, literally "Kak's estate," from the Old Norse personal name Kakkr.
c. 1600, in reference to the Netherlands, Flanders, and Frisia, "boggy or marshy soil," especially a tract of marshy land which as been reclaimed and brought under cultivation, from Dutch polder, from Middle Dutch polre, related to East Frisian poller, polder, words of unknown origin.
