Bürgermeister

Forms

Bürgermeister m (genitive Bürgermeisters, plural Bürgermeister, feminine Bürgermeisterin)^[1] Beside Middle High German burgermeister there was a form burgemeister, in which the first -er- was dissimilated before the second; it survives in dialects.^[2][1] Adelung, around 1800, defended the common Burgemeister, which Frisch had criticised, as easier to pronounce.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German burgermeister, a compound from Middle High German burger (“citizen”) + meister (“master”): the head of a town as the “leader of the citizens”, with the older sense of Meister “leader, head”.^[4][5][2] Wiktionary notes that it is uncertain whether this form or burgemeister, with Burg “town” as the first element, is the original.^[1] Middle Low German börgermēister, Middle Dutch borgermeester and Old Frisian burgermāster correspond.^[6]

The first element is Bürger, Old High German burgāri, an inhabitant of a fortified town, probably reshaped from an old compound like Old English burgware (“citizens”).^[7][2] The second is meister, Old High German meistar, borrowed from Latin magister (“master, chief, leader”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the word to the 13th century.^[4] Köbler's earliest source is a charter of 1264, and the revised Grimm dictionary quotes a charter of 1259 naming Albrecht von dem Burgtor burgærmeister together with the Sixteen and other citizens.^[10][6]

Semantic evolution

The word is frequent in charters from the late Middle Ages, for the chairman of a town council or administration.^[11][6] Adelung describes him as the first of the civic authorities of a town, rendered as Latin consul or proconsul, and adds that in some Upper German regions the mayor of a village was also called Bürgermeister.^[3] Translators also used it for the Roman consul, as in Megiser's Carinthian chronicle of 1612.^[6]

It was borrowed as Polish burmistrz and Czech purkmistr, and Hungarian polgármester is a loan translation.^[1][12] English took it as burghermaster (1676) and later as bürgermeister for a German or Austrian mayor.^[12][1]

Timeline

• 1259 – burgærmeister in a charter.^[6]
• 1264 – burgermeister in a charter.^[10]
• About 1430 – Ulrich von Richental names the burgermaister of Constance.^[6]
• 1612 – Megiser uses it for a Roman consul.^[6]
• 1676 – English burghermaster is recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The (elected) head of a municipality, a mayor.^[5][1][13]

Word family

• Bürgermeisterin
• Oberbürgermeister

Related words

• Bürger
• Meister
• Burg

Usage notes

Adelung also records Bürgermeister as the name of a northern web-footed seabird, called burghermaster in English too.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 164
5. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 5, 1021
7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 163
8. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 613
9. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
12. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
13. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org