English

Noun

maatje ‎(plural maatjes)

1. A fermented herring.
   • 1987, David Butcher, Following the fishing

     The maatje herrin' were very popular over in Germany. That was a very light cure with just a fine sprinkling o' salt.

   • 1997, John Bayley, The red hat

     ...with Charles making quite a good shot at playing the obliging husband, I seized the chance of buying and eating a maatje.

Dutch

Etymology 1

diminutive of maat

Noun

maatje n ‎(plural maatjes)

1. short for maatjesharing, a young herring
2. (literally) a small maat:
3. a small size, measure etc.
4. a young or tiny mate; also used as an informal address for a male

See also

• bokking
• pekelharing, stokvis

Etymology 2

Diminutive of ma 'mammy, mother'

Noun

maatje n ‎(plural maatjes)

1. Diminutive of ma