Meanings
nounmaatje (plural maatjes)
plural maatjes
- A fermented herring.
The maatje herrin' were very popular over in Germany. That was a very light cure with just a fine sprinkling o' salt.
1987, David Butcher, Following the fishing1 more example
[…] with Charles making quite a good shot at playing the obliging husband, I seized the chance of buying and eating a maatje.
1997, John Bayley, The red hat
Origin
- Dutchmaat
- Dutchmaatje
- Englishmaatje
Borrowed from Dutch maatje.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
maatje. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maatje
MLA
“maatje.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maatje. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maatje,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maatje.
Source: maatje on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.