übrigens

Forms

übrigens^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German übrig + -ens, the adverb of the adjective übrig “remaining, left over”, probably on the model of erstens.^[2][3][1][4] The adjective is Middle High German überic, überec, beside Middle Low German overich and Middle Dutch overich, and was formed from über in the sense “beyond the measure”, then “left as a remainder”.^[4][2]

The preposition itself is Middle High German über, Old High German ubar (the umlauted form continues the Old High German adverb ubari), from Proto-Germanic *uber.^[5][2] The same word is Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂 (ufar), Old Norse yfir, Old English ofer and Old Saxon oƀar, and it continues Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over, above”), also found in Sanskrit उपरि (upári), Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér), Latin super and Old Irish for.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Übrigens appears at the end of the 17th century in prose and in the language of trade, meaning “for the rest, otherwise”.^[6][2][7] Kramer's Italian dictionary of 1702 explains it with del resto, and Ludwig's German–English dictionary of 1716 with “for the rest, besides”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century übrigens meant “apart from that, as for the rest”: Lessing wrote ich bin herzlich müde, obschon übrigens gesund (“I am heartily tired, though otherwise well”).^[6] Adelung explained it as “what remains to be said about it” and as “besides”, and the synonym dictionary of Maass and Eberhard set it apart from außerdem: übrigens adds what the preceding statement has left over.^[8][6] The sense then faded, and the word came to be used as a loose connective, “by the way”, which is its main use today.^[6][3][1] The phrase im Übrigen “otherwise, besides” is older, from the 17th century.^[2] Dutch overigens, recorded in 1735, is listed among words modelled on German.^[9]

Timeline

• 13th century – The adjective übrig (Middle High German überic) is recorded.^[4]
• 17th century – Im Übrigen “otherwise, besides” is in use.^[2]
• Late 17th century – Übrigens appears, meaning “for the rest”.^[6][2]
• 1702 – Kramer's dictionary records it.^[6]
• 1735 – Dutch overigens is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By the way, incidentally: introduces a remark made in passing: Übrigens, hast du schon gegessen?^[3][1][7]
2. (dated) Apart from that, for the rest, otherwise.^[1][6][8]

Related words

• übrig
• über
• erübrigen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 939
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 938
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 23, 704
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de