Sluice/ Slu

A Dutch person I know was talking about the gates in the Dykes that are used to hold back the water, and in theory can be opened in war-time to flood most of the country and make it useless to the invader.

He couldn't think of the word in English so he said it to one of the other Dutch people so they could translate, but I knew exactly what he meant when he said the word. In English we call a gate used for a similar purpose to the ones in the Dykes a Sluice or just a Slu. Obviously the Dutch and English words are derived from a common word. What exactly is the Dutch word? What is the equivalent word in other languages?

Since no-one else is interested I found out what 'sluice' is in Dutch, it's 'sluis'.

In German, there's the word ''Schleuse'' for two gates in a river to keep the river navigably. The ship goes in, the gate closes, the water rises or falls depending on the direction of the ship up or down the river, and, after that, the other gate opens. Maybe, I don't know because I live far away form the cost, the word ''Schleuse'' also can be applied to gates in a dyke.

Sluice also has the same meaning as Schleuse. There are also Sluices in Canals used to raise and lower water levels in order to allow a boat to get through the canal.

The connections between languages are interesting.

haha

I suppose the word was originally Dutch, as they were the first to use such techniques extensively.

mmmh...Interesting!