Maalgoed

Maalgoed is a historical Dutch term associated with milling and grain handling. The word broadly designates goods related to milling, and its precise meaning depends on time and place. In some contexts maalgoed refers to the grain stock set aside for milling, while in others it denotes the milled product itself, such as meal, flour, or groats. The interpretation often hinges on surrounding text in archival sources.

Etymology: The term combines maal (to grind or mill) with goed (goods or property). It appears in medieval and early modern Dutch sources, sometimes written as maal-goed; its usage faded as modern terms for milling products became standard.

Historical usage: In inventories, tax rolls, and merchant ledgers, maalgoed functioned as a category in milling workflows. As input, it marked grain reserved for grinding and stored in mills or warehouses. As output, it captured the resulting products, especially meal and flour. The exact interpretation was usually clarified by context, and authorities sometimes used the term in regulation and taxation related to milling operations.

Modern status: Today maalgoed is largely of historical or linguistic interest. Contemporary Dutch distinguishes clearly between meel (flour) and graan (grain), while maalgoed appears chiefly in philological studies, glossaries, and archival documents.

See also: Maal, Meel, Graan, Groat; references to historical milling terminology.