Bund

Forms

Bund m (genitive Bundes or Bunds, plural Bünde)^[1] In the sense “bunch” it is neuter (das Bund, plural Bunde) in Germany and Switzerland and masculine in Austria.^[1] After a numeral the neuter keeps the singular: drei Bund Radieschen.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German bunt, a noun of the zero grade of binden, first meaning “something bound” or “something that binds”.^[3][4][5] The word is limited to German and Dutch: Middle Low German bunt, Middle Dutch bont, Dutch bond.^[3][6][4] Related formations are Old High German gibunt (“bundle”) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (gabundi, “a bond, tie”); the Grimms' dictionary notes that Gothic and Old High German have only these, not the simple noun.^[4][7]

The verb is Proto-Germanic *bindaną (“to bind”), the same as English bind, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”), also found in Sanskrit बध्नाति (badhnā́ti, “binds”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the noun to the 11th century.^[3] The Old High German collective gibunt “bundle” is found in a gloss.^[9][4] In early Middle High German it could mean a bandage: Hartmann von Aue (about 1180) writes that no physician's bunt would help him.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German used it for a cloth wound round the head, a turban, for a band or fetter, an obligation, and an agreement between persons or institutions, an alliance.^[11][12] Luther's Bible made it the word for the covenant between God and his people, interpreting Ancient Greek διαθήκη (diathḗkē, “disposition, testament; covenant”); hence der Alte Bund and der Neue Bund for the Old and New Testament.^[3][10][12] It could also mean a conspiracy, as when Jehu made a Bund against Joram (2 Kings 9:14).^[12] The Bundschuh, the laced shoe of the common man, became the banner of rebelling peasants and in the 15th century came to mean the revolt itself.^[4][6]

The friendship cult of the 18th century revived the word; since then the masculine was used for what binds (an alliance, a marriage, a league) and the neuter for what is bound (a bunch of straw, a bunch of keys).^[4][12] In politics it named alliances of states such as the German Confederation, and then the federal state as against its member states; since 1949 Bundes- has replaced Reichs- in Bundeskanzler, Bundesland, Bundesregierung and Bundeswehr.^[12][3] In soldiers' slang Bund became short for the Bundeswehr, recorded from 1978.^[13]

Craft senses include the waistband of a skirt or trousers, the cords on which a book is sewn, and the frets on the fingerboard of plucked instruments.^[12][5][6] The word was borrowed into Polish (bunt) and Russian (бунт (bunt)).^[1]

Timeline

• 11th century – First record of the noun.^[3]
• c. 1180 – Hartmann von Aue uses bunt for a bandage.^[10]
• 15th century – Bundschuh comes to mean a peasants' revolt.^[4]
• 16th century – Luther's Bible uses Bund for the covenant.^[3][12]
• 18th century – Masculine and neuter begin to be distinguished by meaning.^[4][12]
• 1949 – Bundes- replaces Reichs- in the names of German federal institutions.^[12]
• 1978 – Bund “Bundeswehr” is recorded in soldiers' slang.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. An alliance, union or league of people or states for a common purpose.^[5][1]
2. (Christianity) A covenant;^[5][1] der Alte Bund and der Neue Bund are the Old and New Testament.^[5][1]
3. The federal state as opposed to its constituent states, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.^[5][1]
4. (colloquial) Short for Bundeswehr: the German armed forces, or military service in them.^[5][1]
5. The waistband of a skirt or trousers.^[5][1]
6. (music) A fret on the fingerboard of a plucked instrument.^[5][1]
7. (neuter; masculine in Austria) A bunch or bundle: ein Bund Petersilie.^[1][14]

Word family

• Bündel
• bündeln
• bündig
• Bündnis
• Bundschuh
• verbünden
• Bundeswehr
• Bundesrepublik
• Ausbund

Related words

• binden
• Band
• Binde

Usage notes

Den Bund fürs Leben schließen (“to make the bond for life”) is to marry.^[5][12] Der Dritte im Bunde (“the third in the league”) comes from Schiller's ballad Die Bürgschaft.^[5] Mit dem Teufel im Bunde stehen is to be in league with the devil.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1255
3. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 162
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 516
8. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 124
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ a b c 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, 988
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 d e f g h i j k Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
13. ^ a b 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, 994
14. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org