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Sooterkin Dutch Dark Soo Tuhr Kin Noun Sweetheart Mistress Afterbirth

Sooterkin is an archaic term that can refer to a sweetheart, an afterbirth (in outdated beliefs), or something unsuccessful, possibly stemming from the Dutch word 'sweet.'

Sooterkin is an archaic term with multiple meanings, including a sweetheart or mistress, an afterbirth believed to be generated by warming oneself on stoves (especially by Dutch women), or something imperfect or unsuccessful. It possibly derives from the Dutch word for 'sweet.'

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sooterkin /SOO-tuhr-kin/
Front
noun
1. A sweetheart or mistress.
2. An afterbirth formerly believed to be gotten by Dutch women by warming themselves on stoves.
3. Something imperfect or unsuccessful.

[Apparently from Dutch zoet (sweet). Earliest documented use: 1530.]

“sooterkin, my twin
how oft I see you in dark corners of this room
so like our early home, a hot dark womb”
Alison Calder; Wolf Tree; Coteau Books; 2007.

“Dr. Maubray even claimed that he had seen and delivered a sooterkin when he was traveling on a ferry from Harlingen to Amsterdam and a woman fell into labor on board.” - Jan Bondeson; A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities; W.W. Norton; 1999.

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