wortel

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wortel, from Middle Dutch wortele, from Old Dutch *wurtala, from Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“root”) + *waluz (“stick”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

wortel (plural wortels)

1. carrot
2. (mathematics) root, square root (if no power is specified, it is assumed to be 2)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɔr.təl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wor‧tel
• Rhymes: -ɔrtəl

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wortele, from Old Dutch *wurtala, from Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“root”) + *waluz (“stick”), formed from the Proto-Indo-European roots *wréh₂ds + *welH-.

The mathematical sense was coined by Simon Stevin. Compare German Wurzel, Low German Wuddel, Wortel, West Frisian woartel, Old English wyrtwalu; cf. also English wort.

Noun

wortel m (plural wortels or wortelen, diminutive worteltje n)

1. root (especially of a plant)
2. carrot (Daucus carota, especially Daucus carota subsp. sativa)
3. (arithmetic) square root, root
4. (mathematical analysis) zero (of a function), root (of an equation)

Usage notes

• The plural wortelen is mostly used for carrots, and rarely if at all for the other senses of this word.

Synonyms

• (arithmetic): radix
• (carrot): peen

Derived terms

• bijl aan de wortel
• broodwortel
• schubwortel
• smeerwortel
• steenwortel
• veenwortel
• vierkantswortel
• wortelen
• worteltrekken

 

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wortel (“carrot, square root”)
• Negerhollands: wortel, wolter
• Skepi Creole Dutch: wotl (“carrot”)
• → Indonesian: akar (“square root, root”) (semantic loan)
• → Indonesian: wortel (“carrot”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

wortel

1. inflection of wortelen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch wortel (“carrot”, literally “root”), from Middle Dutch wortele, from Old Dutch *wurtala, from Proto-Germanic *wurt- (“root”) + *waluz (“stick”), formed from the Proto-Indo-European roots *wréh₂ds + *welH-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wor.təl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wor‧têl

Noun

wortel (first-person possessive wortelku, second-person possessive wortelmu, third-person possessive wortelnya)

1. carrot, (a vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, especially the subspecies sativus in the family Apiaceae)

Alternative forms

• bortel

Synonyms

• lobak merah (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

Further reading

• “wortel” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.