Editing Netherlands (section)

=== 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>