English
veld
Veld may come from Afrikaans veld ‘a field, open country’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English veld
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, The Analytical Review: “Advance tovvards the Cond Bokke Veld, or cold country…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- AfrikaansmodernveldWiktionary, English veld‘a field, open country’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1789veldWiktionary, English veld. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, The Analytical Review: “Advance tovvards the Cond Bokke Veld, or cold country…”
The story
Borrowed from Afrikaans veld, or from its etymon Dutch veld (‘field; open country’) (formerly spelled veldt), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (‘field, plain’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (‘flat’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
floor, explain, plane, explanation, plain, palm, clan, explanatory, playa, archipelago, fluke, placenta, planar, parma, palatine, esplanade, flounder, placate, plantar, implacable, lech, flay, polonium, pelagic, llano, floe, planta, purdah, 49 more
through Proto-West Germanic *felþu
Today it means
noun The open grassland or pastureland of South Africa and neighbouring countries.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “veld”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Afrikaans veld / veld