Stuk

Stuk is a noun in Dutch and Afrikaans that primarily denotes a piece, portion, or chunk of something. It can refer to a physical fragment, as in een stuk kaas (a piece of cheese) or een stuk brood (a piece of bread), as well as to a portion of text or content, such as een stuk uit een boek or een nieuwsstuk (a news piece). The word also appears in compound forms to name artistic or musical works, for example toneelstuk (a play) and muziekstuk or muziektuk? (a musical piece).

In everyday use, stuk can be counted with the plural stukken and the diminutive form stukje. The expression stuk voor stuk means one by one or each and every one. In journalism and writing, a "stuk" can refer to an article, report, or feature piece in a newspaper or magazine.

In Afrikaans, the meaning is closely aligned with the Dutch: stuk marks a piece or portion of something, and the term occurs in similar compound phrases and everyday speech.

Etymology traces the word to Old Dutch stuk, with cognates in other Germanic languages (for example German Stück). The sense is preserved in modern Dutch and Afrikaans, where it remains a versatile term for both concrete fragments and more abstract units like portions of content or performances.

Note: In uppercase form, STUK is used as an acronym for various organizations in Dutch- and Flemish-speaking contexts; the exact meaning depends on the specific institution.