Origin
It is composed of the adjective groot, from middle Dutch grote, meaning big or great, preceded by the definite article de, meaning the. It was originally a nickname for a tall person.
In 2007, there were 37,221 people in the Netherlands with this surname.
Read more about this topic: De Groot
Famous quotes containing the word origin:
“All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other.”
—Neal Cassady (1926–1968)
“The origin of storms is not in clouds,
our lightning strikes when the earth rises,
spillways free authentic power:
dead John Brown’s body walking from a tunnel
to break the armored and concluded mind.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)