Antrag

Forms

Antrag m (genitive Antrages or Antrags, plural Anträge)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German antrac (“plot, scheme”), a back-formation from the verb anetragen (“to bring up; to instigate”), from ane (“on, at”) and tragen (“to carry”).^[2][3][4] Kluge treats it as the abstract noun of tragen.^[5] The prefixed verb is old: Old High German anatragan is recorded from the 9th century.^[2]

The base verb continues Old High German tragan, Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to drag, carry”), also in Gothic 𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (dragan), Old Norse draga, Old English dragan and Old Saxon dragan; in English and Norse it means “to draw, pull” rather than “to carry”, and English draw is the same verb.^[5][2][6] Kluge finds no certain comparison outside Germanic: Latin trahō (“to draw, drag”) matches in meaning but not in sound.^[5][6] Pfeifer sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *dherāgh- (“to draw, drag along the ground”), and Kroonen explains the verb as an intensive with the o-grade, without a clear etymology.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German antrac first appears in the romance Friedrich von Schwaben (first half of the 14th century), meaning a treacherous plan or attack: got … du erkennst wol disen antrag “God, you well know this plot”.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Early New High German Antrag meant a plot or scheme, the start of an undertaking, a skirmish, and also an agreement or a formal request.^[7][4] The Grimms note that the word was rare in the older language and current only in their own time, in phrases such as einen Antrag machen, stellen, annehmen and auf Antrag “at someone's request”;^[8] einem Mädchen Anträge machen then mostly had a bad sense.^[8] Adelung (1793) defines it as the act of offering something and the thing offered.^[9] The modern senses, a formal application to an authority, a motion in a parliament or meeting, and a proposal of marriage, are those of the 19th and 20th centuries; the verb beantragen “to apply for, to move” dates from the 19th century.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German anatragan “to bring up” is recorded.^[2]
• First half of the 14th century – Middle High German antrac “plot” appears in Friedrich von Schwaben.^[4][3]
• 1415 – A Strasbourg chronicle uses antrag tun for a plot against a father.^[4]
• 1793 – Adelung records the sense “offer”: einen Antrag thun, verwerfen, annehmen.^[9]
• 19th century – beantragen “to apply for, to propose formally” appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An application or formal request to an authority: Sie hat einen Antrag auf Elterngeld gestellt.^[10][1]
2. The form on which such a request is made: Holen Sie sich den Antrag im Bürgeramt.^[10]
3. A motion or proposal put to a vote in a parliament or meeting: Der Antrag der Opposition wurde abgelehnt.^[10][1]
4. (elevated, dated) An offer: Er machte ihr den Antrag, sie zu begleiten.^[10]
5. A proposal of marriage, short for Heiratsantrag: Er hat ihr im Urlaub einen Antrag gemacht.^[10][1]

Word family

• beantragen
• Heiratsantrag
• antragen

Related words

• tragen
• Vertrag
• Auftrag
• English draw

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c d e 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. 3, 35
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 923
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
8. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 502
9. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 392
10. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag