Editing Netherlands (section)

==Etymology==
{{Main|Terminology of the Low Countries}}

===Netherlands and the Low Countries===
The countries that comprise the region called the [[Low Countries]] (Netherlands, [[Belgium]], and [[Luxembourg]]) all have comparatively the same [[toponymy]]. Place names with {{lang|gem|Neder}}, {{lang|gem|Nieder}}, {{lang|gem|Nedre}}, {{lang|gem|Nether}}, {{lang|gem|Lage(r)}} or {{lang|gem|Low(er)}} (in [[Germanic languages]]) and {{lang|roa|Bas}} or {{lang|roa|Inferior}} (in [[Romance languages]]) are in use in low-lying places all over Europe. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] made a distinction between the Roman provinces of downstream [[Germania Inferior]] (nowadays part of Belgium and the Netherlands) and upstream [[Germania Superior]]. Thus, in the case of the Low Countries and the Netherlands, the geographical location of this ''lower'' region is more or less downstream and near the sea, compared to that of the upper region of Germania Superior. The designation 'Low' returned in the 10th-century Duchy of [[Lower Lorraine]], which covered much of the Low Countries.<ref name="Franks (Columbia Encyclopedia)">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Franks.aspx |title=Franks |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobhist.narod.ru/lorraine.html |title=Lotharingia / Lorraine (Lothringen) |date=5 September 2013 |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

The [[Dukes of Burgundy]] used the term ''les pays de par deçà'' ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries.<ref name="BlockmansPrevenier2010">{{cite book |author1=Wim Blockmans |author2=Walter Prevenier |title=The Promised Lands: The Low Countries Under Burgundian Rule, 1369–1530 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Foy9GGgdcgC&q=duke+pays+de+par+deçà&pg=PA85 |date=3 August 2010 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0070-6 |pages=85–}}</ref> Under [[Habsburg Netherlands|Habsburg rule]], this became ''pays d'embas'' ("lands down-here").<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59Pae06JSiUC&q=The%20New%20Cambridge%20Modern%20History%3A%20Volume%202%2C%20The%20Reformation%2C%201520-1559&pg=PA342 |title=The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 2, The Reformation, 1520–1559 |isbn=978-0-521-34536-1 |last1=Elton |first1=Geoffrey Rudolph |year=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> This was translated as {{lang|nl|Neder-landen}} in contemporary Dutch official documents.<ref name="Lem">{{cite web |last=Van der Lem |first=Anton |title=De Opstand in de Nederlanden 1555–1609;De landen van herwaarts over |url=http://www.dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/dutch/verhaal/Pages/verhaal01.aspx |access-date=11 March 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010141427/http://www.dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/dutch/verhaal/Pages/verhaal01.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> From a regional point of view, ''Niderlant'' was also the area between the [[Meuse (river)|Meuse]] and the lower [[Rhine]] in the late Middle Ages. From the mid-sixteenth century, the "Low Countries" and the "Netherlands" lost their original [[deixis|deictic meaning]].

In most [[Romance languages]], the term "Low Countries" is officially used as the name for the Netherlands.

=== Holland ===
The term ''[[Holland]]'' has frequently been used [[Colloquialism|informally]] to [[Pars pro toto|refer to the whole]] of the modern country of the Netherlands in various languages,<ref name="MoFA">{{cite web |title=Holland or the Netherlands? |url=http://sweden.nlembassy.org/you-and-netherlands |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027142541/http://sweden.nlembassy.org/you-and-netherlands |archive-date=27 October 2016 |access-date=15 December 2012 |publisher=Dutch Embassy in Sweden}}</ref> including [[Dutch language|Dutch]]<ref name="Van Dale">G. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 May 2016 |title=Nederland vs. Holland |url=https://www.holland.com/be_nl/toerisme/informatie/algemeen/nederland-vs-holland.htm |access-date=5 February 2023 |website=holland.com |language=Dutch |quote=Wat is het verschil tussen Holland en Nederland? Nederland bestaat uit de 12 provincies, maar veel mensen gebruiken ook het woord Holland als ze het over Nederland hebben.}}</ref> and English. In some languages, Holland is used as the formal name for the Netherlands. However, Holland is a region within the Netherlands that consists of the two provinces of [[North Holland|North]] and [[South Holland]]. Formerly these were a single province, and earlier the [[County of Holland]], which included parts of present-day [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]]. The emphasis on Holland during the formation of the [[Dutch Republic]], the [[Eighty Years' War]], and the [[Anglo-Dutch Wars]] in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, made Holland a ''[[pars pro toto]]'' for the entire country.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/style-book/1435302/Telegraph-style-book-places-and-peoples.html |title=Telegraph style book: places and peoples |access-date=31 March 2014 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.media.uoa.gr/lectures/linguistic_archives/academic_papers0506/notes/stylesheets_3.pdf|title=The BBC News Styleguide|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227003642/http://www2.media.uoa.gr/lectures/linguistic_archives/academic_papers0506/notes/stylesheets_3.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many Dutch people object to the country being referred to as ''Holland'' instead of ''the Netherlands'', on much the same grounds as many [[Welsh people|Welsh]] or [[Scottish people|Scottish]] people object to the United Kingdom being referred to as England.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oostendorp |first=Marc van |date=1 June 2018 |title=Nederland of Holland? |url=https://neerlandistiek.nl/2018/06/nederland-of-holland/ |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=Neerlandistiek |language=nl-NL}}</ref> In particular, those from regions other than Holland find it undesirable or misrepresentative to use the term Holland for the whole country,<ref name="MoFA"/> as the [[Holland]] region only comprises two of the twelve provinces, and 38% of Dutch citizens. As of 2019, the Dutch government officially has preferred ''the Netherlands'' instead of ''Holland'' when talking about the country''.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 December 2019 |title=Wennen aan The Netherlands, want Holland bestaat niet langer |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2316869-wennen-aan-the-netherlands-want-holland-bestaat-niet-langer |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=margoD |date=3 September 2020 |title=Wat is het verschil tussen Holland en Nederland? |url=https://wheninholland.com/weetjes/het-verschil-tussen-holland-en-nederland/ |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=When in Holland |language=nl-NL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Romano |first=Andrea |date=7 January 2020 |title=The Netherlands Will No Longer Be Called Holland |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/netherlands-holland-official-name-change |access-date=5 February 2022 |website=Travel + Leisure |language=en}}</ref>

Often ''Holland'' or ''Hollanders'' is used by the [[Flemish people|Flemish]] to refer to the Dutch in the Netherlands,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Het Vlaams woordenboek » hollander |url=https://www.vlaamswoordenboek.be/definities/term/hollander |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=vlaamswoordenboek.be}}</ref> and by the Southern Dutch (Dutch living "''[[Grote rivieren|below the great rivers]]''", a natural cultural, social and [[Religion in the Netherlands|religious]] boundary formed by the rivers [[Rhine]] and [[Meuse]]) to refer to the Northern Dutch (Dutch living North of these rivers).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=HOLLANDER – de betekenis volgens Encyclopedie van Noord Brabant |url=https://www.ensie.nl/encyclopedie-van-noord-brabant/hollander |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=ensie.nl}}</ref> In the Southern province of Limburg, the term is used for the Dutch from the other 11 provinces.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=25 October 2017 |title=Limburger vindt 'Hollander' bedreigender dan buitenlander |url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2199675-limburger-vindt-hollander-bedreigender-dan-buitenlander |access-date=12 September 2023 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref> The use of the term in this context by the Southern Dutch is in a [[Pejorative|derogatory]] fashion.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

=== Dutch ===
''Dutch'' is used as the adjective for the Netherlands, as well as the [[demonym]]. The origins of the word go back to Proto-Germanic ''*þiudiskaz'', [[Onomastic Latinisation|Latinised]] into [[Theodiscus]], meaning "popular" or "of the people", akin to [[Old Dutch]] ''Dietsch'' or Old English ''þeodisc'', meaning "(of) the common ([[Germanic peoples|Germanic]]) people".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World |last1=Mallory |first1=J.&nbsp;P. |last2=Adams |first2=D.&nbsp;Q. |author-link2=Douglas Q. Adams |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=US |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfZZX1qjpvkC |isbn=0-19-929668-5 |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-date=31 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831164332/https://books.google.com/books?id=yfZZX1qjpvkC |url-status=live}}, p. 269.</ref> At first, the English language used ''Dutch'' to refer to any or all speakers of [[West Germanic languages]]. Gradually its meaning shifted to the West Germanic people they had the most contact with.<ref>M. Philippa e.a. (2003–2009) Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands [Duits]</ref>