mijnheer

Mijnheer is a formal Dutch honorific used to address a man, roughly equivalent to Mr. or Sir in English. It is mainly found in formal writing, ceremonial speech, or historical documents, and is not a title of nobility.

Etymology and form: the term combines mijn (my) and heer (lord, gentleman), literally meaning “my lord.” In older Dutch it appears as mijne heer or mijnere heer in various spellings, but today it is typically written as one word and capitalized when used as a title before a surname (Mijnheer Jansen).

Usage and register: in contemporary Dutch, the standard polite form is meneer. Mijnheer survives primarily in formal or literary contexts, or when quoting older texts. It can convey a higher degree of formality or distance and is less common in everyday speech or modern correspondence. In everyday interactions, people would normally use meneer or another respectful form.

Relation to other forms: there is no female equivalent of mijnheer in the same sense; the corresponding forms are mevrouw or mevrouw Jansen for women, and meneer for men in ordinary usage. Mijnheer is distinct from noble titles and is not used to indicate aristocratic rank; rather it signals formal respect in language that harkens back to earlier periods of Dutch usage.

Overall, mijnheer is a historical and formal Dutch honorific for men, now largely confined to ceremonial, literary, or archival contexts, with meneer serving as the standard everyday counterpart.