Origins of English Words

English Words of Dutch Origin

1.‘A spokesman for the Police Department took questions yesterday about the revived decoy operations, but did not provide any answers.’
(Dwyer, Jim. “Dragnet That Ensnares Good Samaritans, Too.” New York Times 28 Nov. 2007)

Decoy - 1618, most likely from Dutch kooi ‘cage’, used of a pond surrounded by nets, into which wildfowl were lured for capture. The first element is possibly the Dutch definite article de, mistaken in English as part of the word.

2.‘When the company, which she owns with her husband, Tom, began chartering small ships for all-nude cruises in the early 90s, she said many mainstream cruise operators dismissed them as a joke.’
(Higgins, Michelle. “No Shoes, No shirt, No worries.” New York Times 27 Apr. 2008)

Cruise - 1651, from Dutch kruisen ‘to cross, sail to and from’, from kruis ‘cross’, from Latin crux. …