trouwens

Dutch

Etymology

From the obsolete trouwen (“indeed, really”) +‎ -s (adverbial suffix). The adverb trouwen was the petrified dative singular of the noun trouw (“loyalty”) in its obsolete sense “word of honour”.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈtrɑu̯.əns/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: trou‧wens

Adverb

trouwens

besides; by the way

Descendants

Afrikaans: trouens

References

^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “trouwens”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

[1] van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “trouwens”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

[1]