Old Dutch

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Old Low Franconian.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• proper noun A branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c. 500 - 1150) in the Netherlands and the northern part of present-day Belgium, as well as in areas of northern France along the North Sea coast and ajoining Belgium. This language represents the first attested stage of the Dutch language and its dialects, being succeeded by Middle Dutch in the later Middle Ages. (Also Old West Low Franconian.)