From Middle Dutch idel, from Old Dutch īdil, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz. Cognate with German eitel, English idle.
The common Dutch loss of medial -d- led to the by-forms ijl and iel, which eventually acquired different meanings.
ijdel (comparative ijdeler, superlative ijdelst)
Declension of ijdel | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | ijdel | |||
inflected | ijdele | |||
comparative | ijdeler | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | ijdel | ijdeler | het ijdelst het ijdelste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | ijdele | ijdelere | ijdelste |
n. sing. | ijdel | ijdeler | ijdelste | |
plural | ijdele | ijdelere | ijdelste | |
definite | ijdele | ijdelere | ijdelste | |
partitive | ijdels | ijdelers | — |