doormaken

Doormaken is a Dutch verb meaning to undergo or experience something, often a significant or challenging event or period. The word is formed from door (through) and maken (to make), conveying the sense of going through an experience rather than merely observing it.

In contemporary usage, doormaken is commonly employed to describe experiences such as a difficult period, a traumatic event, or a procedural occurrence. It is frequently used in situations where the focus is on the experience of enduring or coping with what happens. The verb is transitive and typically takes a direct object referring to what is being experienced (doormaken een ingrijpende gebeurtenis, doormaken een operatie, doormaken een periode). The nuance of doormaken can be slightly more formal or emphatic than the more everyday meemaken, which is the more common synonym in casual speech.

The past participle of doormaken is meegemaakt, and the perfect tense is formed with hebben meegemaakt (for example, ik heb meegemaakt). The relationship between doormaken and meemaken is close; meemaken is generally preferred in everyday language, while doormaken may appear in more formal or literary contexts or in certain fixed phrases.

Etymology traces the word to the literal idea of "going through" an experience. See also meemaken, ondergaan, ervaring, and related expressions that describe experiencing events or enduring processes.