Meanings
- Collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) which were spoken and written between 1150 and 1500 in the present-day Dutch-speaking area. There was at that time as yet no overarching standard language, but they were all mutually intelligible.
Old Low Franconian is the ancestor of modern Dutch, Flemish, Brabantish and Limburgish. It is called Old Low Franconian to c. 1100; Middle Low Franconian or Middle Dutch, from 1100 to 1600; from 1600 onwards, New Low Franconian or New Dutch.
1923 (reprinted 1948), Arthur Kirk, An Introduction to the Historical Study of New High German (Publications of the University of Manchester: Germanic Series; No. II), page 102 more examples
(3) West Germanic, which is composed of:— [...] (d) Low Franconian, called Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch until about 1200; Middle Low Franconian or Middle Dutch from 1200 to 1500; from 1500 onwards New Low Franconian, including Dutch, Flemish, Brabantish, and Limburgish.
1907, Joseph Wright, Historical German Grammar: Vol. I: Phonology, Word-Formation and Accidence, page 7One can distinguish four major dialect groups of Middle Dutch: (a) Flemish, which was spoken in the region of Flanders, and Zeeuws, spoken in Zeeland; (b) Brabantic, used in the area of Brussels, Louvain, Antwerp, Mechlin, and Breda; (c) Hollandic, the dialect of the county of Holland; and (d) Limburgic, the language used in the easter part of the Middle Dutch territory. The first three dialect groups may be referred to as West Franconian, while Limburgic is known as East Franconian.
1993, Colette M. van Kerckvoorde, An Introduction to Middle Dutch, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter (a division of Walter de Gruyter & Co.), page 1
Translations
Afrikaans Middelnederlands
- Middelnederlandsthe Middle Dutch language
Dutch Middelnederlands, Diets
- Middelnederlandsthe Middle Dutch language
- Dietsthe Middle Dutch language
Finnish keskihollanti
- keskihollantithe Middle Dutch language
French moyen néerlandais
- moyen néerlandaisthe Middle Dutch language
German Mittelniederländisch
- Mittelniederländischthe Middle Dutch language
Icelandic miðhollenska
- miðhollenskathe Middle Dutch language
Italian olandese medio
- olandese mediothe Middle Dutch language
Polish język średnioholenderski
- język średnioholenderskithe Middle Dutch language
Portuguese holandês médio
- holandês médiothe Middle Dutch language
Swedish medelnederländska
- medelnederländskathe Middle Dutch language
Cite this entry
Middle Dutch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Middle%20Dutch
“Middle Dutch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Middle%20Dutch. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Middle Dutch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Middle%20Dutch.
Source: Middle Dutch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.