veld

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See also: Veld, and véld

English

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WOTD – 24 September 2022

Etymology

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A veld landscape in the Free State, South Africa.

Borrowed from Afrikaans veld, or from its etymon Dutch veld (“field; open country”) (formerly spelled veldt),[1][2] ultimately from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (“field, plain”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). Doublet of field.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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veld (plural velds)

  1. (chiefly South Africa) The open grassland or pastureland of South Africa and neighbouring countries.
    • [1785, Andrew Sparrman, “Journey from Boshies-mans-river to Quamme-dacka”, in A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, towards the Antarctic Polar Circle, and Round the World: […], volume II, London: G. G. J. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 84:
      In the Bokke-velds, as they are called, theſe animals [springbok] are found in great numbers, and ſometimes at Roode-Zand.]
    • 1789 August, “Art. I. A Narrative of Four Journies into the Country of the Hottentots, and Caffraria, in the Years 1777, 1778, and 1779. Illustrated with a Map, and 17 Copper Plates. By Lieutenant William Paterson. […] Johnson. 1789. [book review]”, in [Thomas Christie], editor, The Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign. […], volume IV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 387:
      Advance tovvards the Cond Bokke Veld, or cold country of Antelopes: mountains covered with ſnovv.
    • 1879, Charles H. Eden, “A Despot in Council”, in Ula, in Veldt and Laager: A Tale of the Zulus (Asher’s Continental Library; 6), copyright edition, Hamburg: Karl Grädener, →OCLC, page 47:
      People who have not been brought into contact with snakes may deny that they possess the power of fascinating a human being, but in the wild veldt strong, able-bodied men have been subjected to their spell, and can tell a different tale.
    • 1879, K. J., “CAPE COLONY”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, 9th edition, volume V, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, page 42, column 1:
      The pastoral lands or "velds," which extend chiefly around the outer slopes and in the east, are distinguished according to the nature of the grass or sedge which they produce as "sweet" or "sour."
    • 1885, attributed to Jules Verne, “One for the Frenchman”, in [anonymous], transl., The Vanished Diamond: A Tale of South Africa, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 4:
      Around, as far as the eye can see, there stretches the bare and dreary-looking plain. The Veld, as this plain is called, has a reddish soil, dry, barren, and dusty, with here and there at considerable intervals a straggling bush or a clump of thorn-shrubs.
    • 1894 February 6, Henry Thomas Greef (plaintiff), J. D. Sheil (reporter), “Greef v. Van der Westhuysen”, in Reports of All Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope, During the Months of January, February and March, 1894. […], volume IV, part I, Cape Town: […] “Cape Times” office, […], →OCLC, page 28, column 2:
      I have a piece of veld on Doornfontein. It is a reserved veld. A small river runs here. It is the best grazing on my farm, being very sweet. I reserve it for my cattle.
    • 1902 January 3, H[erbert] Watkins-Pitchford, “The Queensland Redwater Immune Cattle”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume IV, number 22, Maritzburg: The Times Printing and Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 678, column 2:
      Viewed from a practical point of view there seems no reason to think that these animals will fail to withstand the conditions of the Natal veld.
    • 1902 March 4, Joseph Chamberlain, “South African War.—Concentration Camps.”, in The Parliamentary Debates (Authorised Edition), Fourth Series, Third Session of the Twenty-seventh Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland […] (House of Commons), volume CIV, London: Wyman and Sons, […] [for] His Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, column 435:
      [W]e found vast numbers of Boer women and children would be left unprotected on the veldt.
    • 1912, F[rancis] Bancroft, chapter III, in The Veldt Dwellers, 3rd edition, London: Hutchinson & Co. […], →OCLC, book IV, page 296:
      And Thane nodded and staggered blindly upward, only to sag again in a heap upon the veldt.
    • 1979, André Brink, chapter 1, in A Dry White Season, 1st U.S. edition, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, published 1980, →ISBN, part 2, page 79:
      Pale yellow and greyish brown, the bare veld of late summer lay flat and listless under the drab sky.
    • 1994, Nelson Mandela, chapter 2, in Long Walk to Freedom, London: Abacus, published 2010, →ISBN, page 11:
      From an early age, I spent most of my free time in the veld playing and fighting with the other boys of the village.
    • 1995, Malyn [D. D.] Newitt, “The Interior South of the Zambesi in the Sixteenth Century”, in A History of Mozambique, Bloomington, Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 31:
      South of the Zambesi, the frontier-line separates the high veldt and the low veldt regions, the line itself sometimes running along the crest and sometimes through the middle of the broken escarpment where the high granite tablelands break down towards the sea.
    • 2007 January 14, Caroline Elkins, “A life exposed”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 September 2022:
      For [Rachel] Holmes, [Sarah] Baartman’s journey as an object of European curiosity and African exploitation began on the veld of South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
    • 2018, Tendai Rinos Mwanaka, “Ruins”, in Keys in the River: New and Collected Stories, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe: Mwanaka Media and Publishing, →ISBN, page 60:
      In the flatness of the veldts, one would want to communicate with someone else in order to provide theme and variation to the unbounded and unfettered thoughts stretching outward, inspired by the immense sameness of this place.

Alternative forms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “veld, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
  2. ^ “veld, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.

Further reading

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch veld, from Middle Dutch velt, from Old Dutch felt, from Proto-Germanic *felþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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veld (plural velde, diminutive veldjie)

  1. A field, open country
  2. A patch or grass and/or other small plants
  3. The veld, the open grassland of South Africa and neighboring countries
  4. A sports field.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → English: veld

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch velt, from Old Dutch felt, from Proto-West Germanic *felþu, from Proto-Germanic *felþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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veld n (plural velden, diminutive veldje n)

  1. field, open country
  2. an agricultural field
    Synonym: akker
    De boer plantte tarwe in zijn uitgestrekte velden.
    The farmer planted wheat in his extensive fields.
  3. a patch or grass and/or other small plants
    De kinderen renden en speelden in het groene veldje naast het huis.
    The children ran and played in the green patch next to the house.
  4. field (geographical theatre where warriors operate, especially in battle)
    De generaal leidde zijn troepen naar het slagveld.
    The general led his troops to the battlefield.
  5. a sports field
    We speelden voetbal op het grote veld achter de school.
    We played soccer on the large field behind the school.
    De atleten trainen hard op het atletiekveld voor de aankomende wedstrijd.
    The athletes are training hard on the athletics field for the upcoming competition.
  6. a subject field, domain of knowledge, in particular an academic field
    Het onderzoek valt binnen het wetenschappelijke veld van de psychologie.
    The research falls within the scientific field of psychology.
  7. (physics) a field (physical phenomenon pervading an area)
    Elektrische ladingen oefenen krachten uit op elkaar via het elektrostatisch veld dat hen omringt.
    Electric charges exert forces on each other through the electrostatic field that surrounds them.

Derived terms

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- toponyms

- military

- sports

Descendants

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Middle English

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Noun

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veld

  1. Alternative form of feeld

Old Norse

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Verb

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veld

  1. first-person singular present active indicative of valda
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