Etymologically

Ausbildung

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.

Pronunciation

  • /ˈaʊ̯sˌbɪldʊŋ/[1]

Forms

Ausbildung f (genitive Ausbildung, plural Ausbildungen)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German ausbilden + -ung.[1][2][3] The verb is a particle verb of bilden, recorded late as Middle High German ūzbilden “to show a likeness, shape into an image”, a word of the mystics.[4][5][6] Bilden itself is bilden, Old High German bilidōn, from the noun bilidi, whose modern form is Bild.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimms' dictionary has the noun as early as 1507, in a German version of Bonaventura, where vßbildung renders Latin exemplaritas, the model form of all things in God.[7] Pfeifer dates the noun to the first half of the 17th century, and Paul cites Morhof in 1682.[5][3] In 1645 Harsdörffer used it of the working-out of a play that a poet must master.[7]

Semantic evolution

For a long time the word meant shaping and development in general: the Grimms gloss it with Latin conformatio and cultus and give the Ausbildung of the mind, of a work, of language and of art.[8] The revised dictionary quotes it of the growth of a bone (1790), of a small child's progress in crawling and teething (Schleiermacher, 1806) and of the development of a tax system (Bismarck, 1885).[7] In the 18th century ausbilden drew closer to bilden and its educational sense, and Goethe used it for the forming of a person and for preparation for a profession; today the noun mostly means vocational training.[3] The Vocational Training Act of 1969 coined Auszubildende(r) for an apprentice, later shortened to Azubi.[3]

Timeline

  • 1507 – vßbildung renders Latin exemplaritas in a Bonaventura translation.[7]
  • 1645 – Harsdörffer uses the word of the working-out of a play.[7]
  • 1682 – Morhof uses Ausbildung.[3]
  • 1806 – Schleiermacher writes of a child's Ausbildung, its development.[7]
  • 1969 – The Vocational Training Act introduces Auszubildende(r).[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. training, apprenticeship or education for an occupation; the act of training someone or of being trained: Nach dem Abitur begann er eine Ausbildung zum Tischler. In the army, the training with a weapon.[9][1]
  2. The forming or development of a quality, shape or structure: die Ausbildung von Wurzeln an einem Steckling.[9][2]

Word family

  • Ausbildungsplatz
  • Berufsausbildung

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 123
  5. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 149
  7. ^ 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, 960
  8. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 832
  9. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag