Etymologically
Log in

Ausstellung

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈaʊ̯sʃtɛlʊŋ/[1]

Forms

Ausstellung f (genitive Ausstellung, plural Ausstellungen)[1]

Etymology

It is a noun of action formed from German ausstellen + -ung.[1][2][3] Beside the verb there was Middle Low German ûtstellinge.[4] The verb is made of aus and stellen, and is found from Early New High German on.[5][3]

The simple verb is Old High German stellen (8th century), Old Saxon stellian, Old English stellan, a denominative of the old word for a standing place, Proto-Germanic *stallaz, now Stall;[6][3][7] Kluge also allows it to be a causative of a root Proto-Indo-European *stel-, which is otherwise not found in Germanic.[6][3][7] The noun goes back to *steh₂- (“to stand”).[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest records have senses of the verb that are now lost: Middle Low German ûtstellinge (1437) and Early New High German Ausstellung meant postponement, delay, as in the deferring of a court's judgement (1614);[4] the Early New High German dictionary also has “prohibition, prevention” and “arrears of payment”.[9]

Semantic evolution

From 1591 the noun was used for drawing up and issuing a document, a letter or a receipt, a sense still alive in die Ausstellung eines Passes.[4] From the 17th century it also meant an objection or criticism, as when Leopold Mozart's correspondents found many faults (ausstellungen) with a carriage in 1778;[4] Adelung had this plural use,[5] and Duden now marks it as dated officialese.[10]

The sense “public display” appears at the end of the 18th century, first of a convict exposed in public (1796), then of exhibitions of engravings and paintings (1834) and the displays of shops (Heine, 1854).[4] Goethe proposed a show of the progress of the best pupils.[11] In the 19th century exhibitions of the products of art and industry grew from provincial shows to the world exhibitions of London, Paris, Vienna and Philadelphia,[4] and the word now mostly belongs to this sense, with many compounds.[5]

Timeline

  • 1437 – Middle Low German ûtstellinge “postponement”.[4]
  • 1591 – The sense “issuing (of letters)”.[4]
  • 1682 – The sense “objection, criticism”.[4]
  • 1796 – The sense “public exposure (of a convict)”.[4]
  • 1834 – Exhibitions of engravings and paintings.[4]
  • 1884 – The world exhibitions of London, Paris, Vienna and Philadelphia are described.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of putting something on show, of issuing a document, or of posting someone.[10][4]
  2. An exhibition, a show of artistic or commercial products: eine Ausstellung zeitgenössischer Fotografie.[10][1]
  3. (dated, usually plural) A critical remark, an objection;[10][2] Ausstellungen machen (officialese) is to find fault.[10][2]

Word family

  • Kunstausstellung
  • Weltausstellung
  • Ausstellungsstück

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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, 1506
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 881
  7. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 1038
  8. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 987