The story
- Dutch · derived fromzoeterke(n)“sweatheart”
- English todaysooterkin
From dialectal Dutch zoeterke(n) (“sweatheart”) (compare zoetje, zoetke (“sweetheart”)), equivalent to sweet + -kin or soot + -kin.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
sooterkin
Today it means: A mouse-like creature which, according to folklore, Dutch women who sit over stoves give birth to. Full definition →
Dutch zoeterke(n)