Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch beschaven. Equivalent to be- +‎ schaven. The sense “to civilize” developed from the sense of “to smoothen”, implying that one smoothens and polishes up a person. Compare French poli.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /bəˈsxaːvə(n)/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: be‧scha‧ven
  • Rhymes: -aːvən

Verb

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beschaven

  1. (transitive) to civilize
  2. (transitive, obsolete) to smoothen by scraping (with a plane)
  3. (transitive, obsolete) to rob, to bereave

Inflection

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Conjugation of beschaven (weak, prefixed)
infinitive beschaven
past singular beschaafde
past participle beschaafd
infinitive beschaven
gerund beschaven n
present tense past tense
1st person singular beschaaf beschaafde
2nd person sing. (jij) beschaaft, beschaaf2 beschaafde
2nd person sing. (u) beschaaft beschaafde
2nd person sing. (gij) beschaaft beschaafde
3rd person singular beschaaft beschaafde
plural beschaven beschaafden
subjunctive sing.1 beschave beschaafde
subjunctive plur.1 beschaven beschaafden
imperative sing. beschaaf
imperative plur.1 beschaaft
participles beschavend beschaafd
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.

Derived terms

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