verreweg
Dutch edit
Alternative forms edit
- (obsolete) verre weg
Etymology edit
Univerbation of verre weg, an earlier spelling reflecting its original, literal meaning of "far away" (see verre and weg). The current meaning "by far" is attested as early as the late fifteenth century, as Middle Dutch verre wech. The word verre by itself (and indeed the secondary form ver) could also mean "by far" until as late as the nineteenth century.
Today, the word may be interpreted as verre + -weg; as a matter of fact, the -weg suffix is thought to derive from words formed by analogy with verreweg.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
verreweg
References edit
- van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “verreweg”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute