Dagelijk

Dagelijk is a Dutch term that functions as an adjective or adverb meaning daily, or every day. In modern Dutch, the form dagelijks is standard for expressing routine occurrence; dagelijk remains primarily a historical or literary form and is rarely used in everyday language.

Etymology and form: The word derives from the noun dag (day) with a derivational suffix -elijk, producing a sense related to the day or daily occurrence. The term appears in older stages of Dutch and is commonly found in historical or archaic language.

Usage and context: Dagelijk is principally encountered in historical texts, religious or legal language, and in poetry or stylistic writing that aims at an archaic tone. It conveys regularity on a day-to-day basis, similar to the English daily. In contemporary usage, the preferred form is dagelijks to express daily frequency, while elke dag is used to indicate explicit meaning of “every day.”

Relationship to modern Dutch: The distinction in current standard Dutch centers on dagelijkse vs. daily usage; dagelijks is used for “daily,” whereas dagelijk is regarded as archaic or literary. The word can appear in translations or discussions of older language forms, where its older sense remains of interest to philologists and scholars of Dutch linguistic history.

See also: dagelijks; quotidian.