a. and sb. [f. L. Batavia, f. Batavi an ancient people who dwelt on the island Betawe, between the Rhine and the Waal, in part of what is now Holland. See -AN.]
A. adj. a. Of or pertaining to the ancient Batavi: see above. b. Pertaining to Holland or to the Dutch.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 339. First year of Batavian liberty.
1859. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., V. 141. The peculiarity of the Batavian polity threw some difficulties in his way.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U.S., I. iv. 100. He had fought for the independence of the Batavian republic.
B. sb. pl. a. The ancient Batavi: see above. b. The Dutch or Netherlanders (rare).
1598. Greenwey, Tacitus’ Ann., iv. (1622), 266. The Batavians … inhabit an Ilande of the River of Rhene.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U.S., II. xxii. 24. There would be no war but on water, the home of the Batavians.
