Avest (;

Achterhoeks Achterhooks (; ) is a Westphalian dialect spoken in Gelderland. Geographic distribution The Achterhooks language is spoken in the Netherlands in western Europe, Northeast, with speakers concentrated in Gelderland Province. Status The langua ...

: ; also ''Aves'', ''Oves'') is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the municipality of

Berkelland Berkelland () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands province of Gelderland. It was created on 1 January 2005 from the merger of the former municipalities of Borculo, Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. The new municipalit ...

in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is originally a hamlet that fell within the of

Borculo Borculo is a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the municipality of Berkelland, Gelderland. Borculo was an independent municipality until 2005, when it merged with Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. Other population centers in the municipality of Bo ...

, the

Groenlo Groenlo () is a city in the municipality of Oost Gelre, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, on the German border, within a region in the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek (literally: "back corner"). Groenlo was a municipal ...

and the of Beltrum. In 1552, Rosier van Bronckhorst was named as of Eibergen, Neede, and Beltrum. From this voogdij, the municipality of Beltrum arose in the Batavian-

French period In Northern European historiography, the term French period (, , ) refers to the period between 1794 and 1815 during which most of Northern Europe was controlled by Republican or Napoleonic France.Eduard Rothert''Rheinland-Westfalen im Wechsel d ...

, which was dissolved in 1819 and added to the municipality of

Eibergen Eibergen (Low Saxon: ''Eibarge'') is a town and former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Gelderland in the Eastern Netherlands. It is part of the Achterhoek cultural region. The administrative cooperation of about 20 municipalitie ...

. Since January 1, 2005, Avest has been part of the municipality of Berkelland. The hamlet is located south of the Hupselse Beek. The Oude (Grolse) Beek runs through it. Part of the new regional industrial estate ''De Laarberg'' is located on land that once belonged to the of Avest.

Etymology

The name ''Oves'' appeared in 1298, the name ''Avest'' in 1415, and in 1428 the name ''Aves''. Oves is a variant of the

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

''ovese'', with short forms ''ose'' and ''oose''. In the

, a

Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...

dialect, the hamlet is called ''Auste''. This word also occurs in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, but there was also a variant ''epesis''. From this, the English word "eaves" developed, which refers to a point of a thatched roof protruding beyond the wall. But the oldest meaning is "edge", for example, a forest edge, and this is a very acceptable explanation of the name ''Avest'' for yards that were located on the edge of the forest; although the meaning "covered shelter" is also plausible. It was previously stated that Avest comes from a Germanic word, which was ''eowestre'' in Old English,''awistr'' in ' Gothic, and ''ewist'' in

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

; the meaning was "sheep shed" or an enclosed area where sheep were kept. It is derived from ''awi'', which still survives in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

as ''ewe'' for a female sheep. The source this comes from, however, retracted its statement from the first explanation. The name ''Oves'' was already noted in old accounts of the

Duchy of Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

in 1294.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Gelderland Berkelland