iets

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

  • iits (obsolete)

Etymology

From Dutch iets.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /its/
  • (file)

Pronoun

iets

  1. something

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch iet, a contraction of earlier iewet, from Old Dutch iowiht. This Old Dutch compound is formed from Old Dutch ie- 'anything' and a second constituent corresponding to Middle Dutch wicht 'being, creature', earlier meaning 'thing'. Cognate with Limburgish get, Central Franconian jet, English aught.

The suffix -s is taken from Old Dutch niets whose -s is an old partitive genitive ending.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /its/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: iets
  • Rhymes: -its

Pronoun

iets

  1. something
    Mag het iets meer zijn? : May it be something more?
    Mag het iets minder zijn? : May it be something less?
  2. anything
    Anders nog iets? : Anything else? (literally: Otherwise yet/still something?)

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: iets

Adverb

iets

  1. somewhat

Anagrams

Latvian

Participle

iets (definite ietais)

  1. gone; indefinite past passive participle of iet
    ar mazo spēkstaciju atbalstu ir iets par tālu ― as for (lit. with) the support for small power plants (it) is gone too far
    atceries kādreiz takas, kas ietas ― remember sometime the paths that were gone (= gone by, traveled)

Declension

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