Arbeitsplatz

Forms

Arbeitsplatz m (genitive Arbeitsplatzes, plural Arbeitsplätze)^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from German Arbeit + -s- + Platz, with a linking ⟨s⟩.^[1][2] The first part is native and goes back to Old High German arabeit (“toil, work”) and Proto-Germanic *arbaidiz (“hardship, toil”).^[3] The second was borrowed in the 13th century as Middle High German plaz, from Medieval Latin placea and French place, which go back to Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa, “broad street, open square”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from a Hamburg newspaper of 1741, which reports two cereal plants growing out of the marble rubble on the arbeits-platze of the court sculptor Glume, his place of work.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century it was used of the places in a factory, as by Immermann (1836), whose workplaces fill and empty at the stroke of the bell.^[5] In the 20th century it also came to mean a job, a post in employment: in 1911 a released prisoner may not change his Arbeitsplatz without the prison authority's consent, and in 1948 the KPD called for securing a job for every young person.^[5]

Timeline

• 1741 – First record, of a sculptor's place of work.^[5]
• 1836 – Immermann uses it of places of work in a factory.^[5]
• 1911 – First record of the sense “employment, job”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place set up for working, such as a desk or bench: Am Fenster hat er seinen Arbeitsplatz.^[6][1]
2. The place where one works, a workplace: Ihr Arbeitsplatz ist das Rathaus.^[6][1]
3. A job, employment: In der Region fehlen Arbeitsplätze.^[6][1][2]

Related words

• Arbeit
• Platz

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 57
4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 710
5. ^ a b c d e f 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, 219
6. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag