klucht

From Middle Dutch cluft, clucht, from Old Dutch *kluft, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz (whence also German Kluft, English cleft). The word is related to klieven (“to cleave”), and the Middle Dutch meaning was at first "separation, department", later also "neighbourhood of a town". The sense shifted to its modern meaning only in early modern Dutch times, starting with "nonsense, prattle" and then "joke, humorous story".

• Audio

  (file)

klucht f or m (plural kluchten, diminutive kluchtje n)

1. farce, coarse comedy
2. a small flock of birds; covey, brood

   Ik zag een klucht patrijzen in het veld. ― I saw a flock of partridges in the field.

From Middle Dutch cluft, clucht, from Old Dutch *kluft, from Proto-Germanic *kluftiz.

klucht f (plural kluchtn, diminutive kluchtje)

1. joke