VOC, noun

/viː əʊ ˈsiː/
Forms:
Also V.O.C.
Origin:
DutchShow more Initial letters of Dutch Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie ‘United East India Company’.
historical
1. The monogram of the Dutch East India Company (used in the past on silver, porcelain, coins, etc.). Often attributive.
[1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 222This place, which I have marked in the map with the letters OVC interwoven with each other, or the Dutch company’s mark, is the residence of a landrost.]
1910 D. Fairbridge That Which Hath Been (1913) 35The arms of Amsterdam, Delft, Middelburg, Hoorn and Enkhuysen over the entrance flanked by the entwined V.O.C. of the Dutch East India Company and surmounted by the lion of Holland.
1926 P.W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 50Over the gateway, sculptured in stone, are the arms of Amsterdam, Delft, Zeeland, Hoorn, and Enckhuisen, the combination of whose chambers formed the Dutch East India Company, and whose monogram, the intertwined V.O.C. (for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), is to be seen above the capitals.
1945 N. Devitt People & Places 23In the case of the Dutch East India Company the famous V.O.C. monogram was always in evidence.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 185Oak chests and kists bearing the VOC monogram.
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 267The monogram V.O.C. denoted the possessions of the ‘Vereenigde Oost Indiese Compagnie’.
1973 S. Afr. Panorama Oct. 18A resolution by the Here XVII, dated February 28, 1603, stipulating that the VOC mark had to be used on all articles belonging to the Dutch East India Company.
1975 Wine: Guide for Young People (K.W.V.) 69The so-called V.O.C. (..Dutch East India Company) glassware.
1981 P. Dane Great Houses of Constantia 26Hand-hewn beams in heavy teak, stamped with the letters, ‘V.O.C.’
1988 D. Hughes et al. Complete Bk of S. Afr. Wine 18The VOC monogram is found as the central decoration to much of the Company’s glass and chinaware.
2. In historical contexts. Company. Also attributive.
1953 Du Plessis & Lückhoff Malay Quarter 19Since the liquidation of the old V.O.C. the Cape Malays were denied cultural or intellectual links with Indonesia.
1965 M.G. Atmore Cape Furn. 54From 1652 to 1657 the small colony was entirely composed of company servants busy with establishing rudimentary buildings and cultivating vegetables and other provisions for the V.O.C. ships.
1971 S. Afr. Panorama May 9Commander Jan van Riebeeck, a ship’s doctor employed by the V.O.C. (Dutch East India Company)...The Company felt that the establishment of an independent farming community close to the settlement would save the V.O.C. a considerable sum of money.
1977 R.J. Haines in R.J. Bouch Infantry in S. Afr. 1652–1976 1The garrison was kept well below its necessary strength as the VOC hoped that the burger militia could substitute for regular troops.
1984 R.C. Fisher in Martin & Friedlaender Hist. of Surveying & Land Tenure I. 63He had to be a trusted and responsible servant of the VOC.
The monogram of the Dutch East India Company (used in the past on silver, porcelain, coins, etc.). Often attributive.
Company. Also attributive.
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17861988

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acronyms
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vlier, nounn.voëlvry, adjectiveadj.
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