What is "flemish"

Flemish \Flem"ish\, a. Pertaining to Flanders, or the Flemings. -- n. The language or dialect spoken by the Flemings; also, collectively, the people of Flanders.

Flemish accounts (Naut.), short or deficient accounts. [Humorous]
--Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Flemish beauty (Bot.), a well known pear. It is one of few kinds which have a red color on one side.

Flemish bond. (Arch.) See Bond, n., 8.

Flemish brick, a hard yellow paving brick.

Flemish coil, a flat coil of rope with the end in the center and the turns lying against, without riding over, each other.

Flemish eye (Naut.), an eye formed at the end of a rope by dividing the strands and lying them over each other.

Flemish horse (Naut.), an additional footrope at the end of a yard.

German \Ger"man\, n.; pl. Germans[L. Germanus, prob. of Celtis origin.]

1. A native or one of the people of Germany.

2. The German language.

3. 1. A round dance, often with a waltz movement, abounding in capriciosly involved figures.

   2. A social party at which the german is danced.

      High German, the Teutonic dialect of Upper or Southern Germany, -- comprising Old High German, used from the 8th to the 11th century; Middle H. G., from the 12th to the 15th century; and Modern or New H. G., the language of Luther's Bible version and of modern German literature. The dialects of Central Germany, the basis of the modern literary language, are often called Middle German, and the Southern German dialects Upper German; but High German is also used to cover both groups.

      Low German, the language of Northern Germany and the Netherlands, -- including Friesic; Anglo-Saxon or Saxon; Old Saxon; Dutch or Low Dutch, with its dialect, Flemish; and Plattdeutsch (called also Low German), spoken in many dialects.

"pertaining to or native to Flanders," early 14c., flemmysshe, probably from Old Frisian Flemische, or a native formation from Fleming + -ish.

vb. (context nautical English) To coil a rope into a neat pattern on the deck of a ship

The Flemish is synonym of 'the Flemish people' and the modern group term for plural 'the Flemings', inhabitants of Flanders, the Western part of Belgium.

Flemish is the adjective according to context referring to either of the above or to:

• Flanders, an area of which history has brought the borders currently mainly at the Flemish Region
• Flemish Region, a constitutional region, the northern half of Belgium without the Brussels enclave
• Flemish Community, a constitutional, institutionalized community comprising the majority of Belgians

Flemish is also often used incorrectly for the Belgian Dutch spoken in Flanders.

Flemish (Vlaams), also called Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands ), or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands), refers to any of the varieties of the Dutch language spoken in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium. The term "Flemish" is used in at least five ways. These are, in order of increasing dialect order:

1. as an informal term meaning "Dutch language" in Belgium, referring both to the standard Dutch used there, as well as any dialect. Linguists tend to avoid the use of the term "Flemish" in this context and prefer "Belgian-Dutch" or "Southern Dutch".
2. as a synonym for the so-called intermediate speech known as tussentaal.
3. to denote any of the local Dutch dialects anywhere in the Flanders region.
4. to refer to the dialects in the area of the former county of Flanders (current provinces of West and East Flanders, the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders and French Flanders).
5. as an indication of non-standard dialects within the province of West Flanders and French Flanders, usually referred to as "West Flemish".

There are four principal Dutch dialects in the Flemish region (Flanders): Brabantian, East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish. The latter two are sometimes considered separate (regional) languages. Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal. The combined region, culture, and people of Dutch-speaking Belgium (which consists of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, and Limburg, and historically of Brussels) has come to be known as "Flemish". "Flemish" is also used to refer to one of the historical languages spoken in the former County of Flanders.

Linguistically and formally, "Flemish" refers to the region, culture and people of (North) Belgium or Flanders. Flemish people speak (Belgian) Dutch in Flanders, the Flemish part of Belgium. "Belgian Dutch" is slightly different from Dutch spoken in The Netherlands, mainly in pronunciation, lexicon and expressions. Similar differences exist within other languages, such as English (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK, USA, South Africa, etc.), French (Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland, etc.), and Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal, etc.). The differences are not significant enough to constitute an individual language (just as American, Australian, Canadian and Brazilian have not diverted enough from the respective European sources to be considered separate languages).