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DUTCH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

van.

of (possession, property)

3 characters1 syllables approx.Nederlands language

Meaning & usage

prep/vɑn/[fɑn]Northern[fan]Suriname
  1. of (possession, property)

    de hoed van het meisje
    het gewicht van een olifant
  2. of (general association)

    Zij was van adel.
    een stad van één miljoen inwoners
  3. by, of (creator)

    een schilderij van Rubens
    een plaat van de Beatles
  4. from (origin)

    Hij is niet van hier.
  5. from (starting point of a movement or change)

    Hij ging van deur tot deur.
    van vader op zoon.
  6. from (starting point in time)

    van toen af aan.
    van 's avonds laat tot 's morgens vroeg
  7. from, off (removal of something from off something else)

    het vlees van de beenderen snijden.
  8. of, out of, from, with (cause)

    sidderen van angst
    tranen van geluk
  9. of, out of, with (material or resource)

    Deze tafel is gemaakt van hout.
    Van dit geld kan ik een basgitaar kopen.
  10. of, out of, among (out of a larger whole; partitive)

    de jongste van zijn dochters
    Van alle mensen ben ik de mooiste.
  11. from, was, formerly (indicating a change in price)

    van 5 €, voor 3 €
  12. like (quotative (used to introduce direct speech))

    colloquial
    Hij had zoiets van, hoepel op.
    Ik dacht van hé, wat gek.
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch van, from Old Dutch fan (“from”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanā, from Proto-Germanic *fanē, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂poneh₁ (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo, *h₂pó (“off, of”). Cognate with Old Saxon fana, fan (“from”), Old Frisian fan, fon (“from”), Old High German fona, fon (“from”).

noun/vɑn/[fɑn]Northern[fan]Suriname
  1. a surname or nickname beginning with the preposition van

    masculine · no-diminutive
  2. any surname

    masculine · no-diminutive
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch van, from Old Dutch fan (“from”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanā, from Proto-Germanic *fanē, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂poneh₁ (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo, *h₂pó (“off, of”). Cognate with Old Saxon fana, fan (“from”), Old Frisian fan, fon (“from”), Old High German fona, fon (“from”).

adv/vɑn/[fɑn]Northern[fan]Suriname
  1. of, from

    Ik neem er tien van.
  2. from

    Ik vertrek van daar.
  3. by, from

    Ik word er gek van.
    Men wordt daar sloom van.
  4. of, about

    Wat zegt u daar van?
    Ik weet daar niks van.
Where this word comes from

From Middle Dutch van, from Old Dutch fan (“from”), from Proto-West Germanic *fanā, from Proto-Germanic *fanē, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂poneh₁ (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo, *h₂pó (“off, of”). Cognate with Old Saxon fana, fan (“from”), Old Frisian fan, fon (“from”), Old High German fona, fon (“from”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.