Etymologically
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Abschnitt

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈapˌʃnɪt/, [ˈʔapˌʃnɪtʰ][1]

Forms

Abschnitt m (genitive Abschnittes or Abschnitts, plural Abschnitte, diminutive Abschnittchen n)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German abesnit, the noun of abschneiden “to cut off”, formed from ab- and Schnitt “cut”.[1][2][3][4] The verb is Middle High German abesnīden, Old High German abasnīdan.[5][3]

The base schneiden continues snīdan, from Proto-Germanic *snīþaną, the same verb as Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽 (sneiþan), Old Norse sníða, Old English snīþan and Dutch snijden.[6][7] Outside Germanic Pfeifer can only point to Czech snět (“branch”) in Czech dialects and older Polish śniat (“tree trunk”), which would give a root Proto-Indo-European *sneit- (“to cut”), but he warns that so few comparisons make the root doubtful.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DWB revision's first record is a noun of action in the Passional (about 1300): God's mercy has taken away the sinner's wrongdoing mit der genaden abesnit, by the cutting away of grace.[2] A 14th-century gloss uses absnith for the cut-off branches (Latin sarmenta) of Acts 28:3.[8]

Semantic evolution

Early records show the noun for the act of cutting off (1541), for the cut surface (1491, of a vine) and for an offcut or scrap (15th century).[2] Dürer used it in geometry for a segment (1525), and Paul dates the senses “section of a text” and “phase of time” from the 18th century.[2][3] The German Wiktionary notes its 17th-century use in fortification, for separating ditches and the parts they protect.[9] Russian borrowed it as абшнит (1762, part of a fortification).[10]

In 1801 Campe offered Abschnitt as a German word for the coupon of a bond, and the sense “tear-off part of a form” followed.[2] From the 19th century the army used it for a sector of the front, and the GDR for a residential district.[2][11]

Timeline

  • about 1300 – First record, in the Passional.[2]
  • 1491 – The sense “cut surface” appears.[2]
  • 1525 – Dürer uses it for a geometric segment.[2]
  • 1740 – Breitinger heads a part of his book “der erste Abschnitt”.[2]
  • 1762 – Russian абшнит is borrowed for part of a fortification.[10]
  • 1781 – Adelung divides the history of German into six Abschnitte, periods.[2]
  • 1801 – Campe uses it for the coupon of a bond.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A section of a text, a chapter or passage: Im dritten Abschnitt beschreibt die Autorin ihre Kindheit.[11][1]
  2. A section of an area or terrain: ein gesperrter Abschnitt der Autobahn;[11][9] (GDR) a residential district.[11][9]
  3. A period, a phase of time: Mit dem Umzug nach Leipzig begann ein neuer Abschnitt ihres Lebens.[11][9]
  4. A piece cut off.[11][9]
  5. A detachable part of a form, ticket or the like, a stub or coupon.[11][9]
  6. (mathematics) A segment, as of a circle.[11][1]

Word family

  • abschnittweise
  • Lebensabschnitt
  • Zeitabschnitt
  • Streckenabschnitt
  • Aufschnitt
  • Durchschnitt
  • Unterabschnitt
  • abschneiden
  • schneiden
  • Schnitt

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 1, 855
  3. ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 108
  5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 1, 13
  9. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  10. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag