Twente

Dutch
location map, showing Twente in yellow (the rest of the Netherlands in pink)

Alternative forms
  • Twenthe (obsolete)

Etymology

From late Old Dutch Tuente (also Old Dutch Tuenta), from earlier Old Dutch Twenta, from Old Dutch Tueanti or Old Dutch Tuianti, from Proto-West Germanic *Twihanti, from *twai- (“two”) +‎ *hant-. Beware that these attestations, apart from the oldest which is based on two Latin inscriptions, come to us via copies of Latin texts, and may therefore be affected by transcription errors and phonological adaptation. Often equated to the Tubantes mentioned by Tacitus. De Vries thought *hant- means community or part of the area where a people live; considering that Twente must once have been divided into dingspelen (“judicial areas”), it would seem it originally consisted of two of them. Compare Drenthe. Attested both with and without h from early Modern Dutch; the form without h is now standard.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈtʋɛntə/
  • Audio(file)

Proper noun

Twente n

  1. The most urbanised, easternmost region of the province of Overijssel in the eastern Netherlands.

Derived terms
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