Word.ws English Dictionary

dutch

/dʌt͡ʃ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Ireland/dʊt͡ʃ/

dutch noun: wife. Also the alternative letter-case form of Dutch.

Noun (1)

dutch (plural dutches)

  1. (slang) wife

Adjective capitalized: Dutch

Dutch (comparative more Dutch or Dutcher, superlative most Dutch or Dutchest)

  1. Of or pertaining to the Netherlands, the Dutch people or the Dutch language.
  2. (archaic) Pertaining to Germanic-speaking peoples on the European continent, chiefly the Germans (especially established German-speaking communities in parts of the USA), or the Dutch; Teutonic; Germanic.
  3. (archaic, derogatory, obsolete) Substitute, inferior, ersatz.
  4. (dated) Thrifty.
  5. (South Africa, derogatory, ethnic, slur) Pertaining to Afrikaner culture (Cape Dutch).

Proper noun capitalized: Dutch

Dutch

  1. The main language of the Netherlands, Flanders (i.e., the northern half of Belgium) and Suriname; Netherlandic.
    • By the time this mysterious knight died in the 1360s, his book was available in every European language, including Dutch, Gaelic, Czech, Catalan, and Walloon.2001 December 2, Giles Milton, “'The Riddle and the Knight'”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2022
    • According to this view, Dutch is a descendant of Old (West) Low Franconian and …2003, Anthony F. Buccini, "Ab errore liberato". The Northern Expansion of Frankish Power in the Merovingian Period and the Genesis of the Dutch Language, in: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren...
  2. (archaic) German; the main language of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany, Austria, Alsace, Luxembourg).
  3. A male given name, more often given as a nickname to someone of Dutch or German ancestry than as an official given name.

Noun (2) capitalized: Dutch

Dutch pl (plural only)

  1. (collective, plural, plural-only) The people of the Netherlands, or one of certain ethnic groups descending from the people of the Netherlands.
    • The Dutch will vote on the matter next month.
    • In upstate New York, the Dutch continued to speak their language into the nineteenth century.
  2. (South Africa, collective, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, plural) Afrikaner people (Cape Dutch).
  3. (collective, plural, plural-only) The Pennsylvania Dutch people.

Noun (3) capitalized: Dutch

Dutch (uncountable)

  1. (dated) Synonym of double Dutch (“incomprehensible language or speech”).
    • “Queer language, that, sir,” said the officer. “It was Dutch to me.”
    • Now, Max, pray enlighten the company. Why should the murderer write "Italian spoken" over the bed?'
      'Obviously to make sure that you shouldn't miss it,' replied Mr Carrados.
      'Well,' remarked the sergeant, demonstrating one or two simple exercises in physical drill as a suitable preparation, 'I may...1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries
    Synonyms:
    double Dutch

Verb capitalized: Dutch

Dutch (third-person singular simple present Dutches, present participle Dutching, simple past and past participle Dutched)

  1. To treat cocoa beans or powder with an alkali solution to darken the color and lessen the bitterness of the flavor.
    • Dutch processed is made from cocoa beans that have been treated with an alkalized solution. You'll get a deeper color and a great chocolaty flavor, but more importantly, the process of Dutching the chocolate renders the powder neutral.2015, Deb Wise, Incredibly Decadent Desserts: 100 Divine Treats Under 300 Calories

Also used as

dutch is also the alternative letter-case form of Dutch.

dutch meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu

dutch in Hindi

डच

dutch in Marathi

डच, डचिंग

dutch in Bengali

ডাচ, ডাচরা, ডাচদের

dutch in Telugu

డచ్, డచ్చింగ్
More languagesFewer languages
dutch in Malayalam
ഡച്ച്, ഡച്ചുകാർ
dutch in Kannada
ಡಚ್, ಡಚ್ಚರು, ಡಚ್ಚಿಂಗ್
dutch in Punjabi
ਡੱਚ
dutch in Gujarati
ડચ
dutch in Odia
ଡଚ୍, ଡଚ, ଡଚ୍ଙ୍କୁ
dutch in Nepali
डच, डच्स, डच्च

Examples of dutch in a sentence

  • Dutch people rarely wear clogs these days.
  • Dutch Licorice Salmiak Rocks are classic Dutch sweets with a distinctive salty and tangy flavour.
  • Dutch courage would have been better than no courage at all.

All 17 example sentences with dutch

Synonyms of dutch

Forms of dutch

Noun
pluraldutches
Verb
third-person singular presentdutches
present participledutching
past participledutched
pastdutched
third-person singular presentDutches
present participleDutching
past participleDutched
pastDutched
Adjective
comparativemore Dutch
comparativeDutcher
superlativemost Dutch
superlativeDutchest
alternative formDu.

Origin of dutch

Clipping of duchess.

See Dutch.

PIE word *tewtéh₂ From Middle English Duch (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Middle Low German dütsch, düdesch (“German, Low German, Dutch”) and Middle Dutch dūtsch, dūtsc (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Proto-West Germanic *þiudisk, from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (“of one’s people”), derived from *þeudō (“people”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂. Doublet of Deutsch and Doitsu. Compare Middle English thedisch (“native, endemic”) from Old English þēodisċ (“of one’s people”), Old Saxon thiudisk (German Low German düütsch (“German”)), Old High German diutisc (modern German deutsch (“German”)), modern Dutch Duits (“German”) alongside elevated Diets (“Dutch”) (a secondary distinction, fully accepted only in the 19th century). See also Derrick, Teuton, Teutonic. Cognate with Persian توده (tude, “people, nation”). The pejorative senses (Dutch courage, Dutch wife, Dutch uncle, etc.) are said to stem from the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the accompanying rivalry.

Words formed from dutch

Phrases with dutch

120 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with dutch

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dutch

What does dutch mean?
Dutch means wife.
What is dutch in Hindi?
Dutch in Hindi is डच. See Dutch meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is dutch?
Dutch can be a noun, an adjective, a proper noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce dutch?
Dutch is pronounced /dʌt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of dutch?
The plural of dutch is dutches.

Words near dutch in the dictionary

  1. dutar
  2. dutarist
  3. dutarists
  4. dutars
  5. dutasteride
  6. dutch
  7. Dutch 200
  8. Dutch 200s
  9. Dutch act
  10. Dutch acts
  11. Dutch admiral

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dutch (page history and authors); Dutch (page history and authors); dutch (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); dutch (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-Dutch.ogg, en-us-Dutch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “dutch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dutch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.