Dezember
Pronunciation
- /deˈtsɛmbɐ/[1]
Forms
Dezember m (genitive Dezembers or Dezember, plural Dezember)[1] Until the 17th century it often kept Latin endings, as in den zwanzigisten decembris (1589).[2][3]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German december, borrowed from Latin December (“the tenth month”), short for mēnsis December.[4][3][5] The Latin name is derived from decem (“ten”), but its formation is unclear;[4][6] Kluge considers a compound with the word for “month”, and Wahrig calls the ending of unclear origin.[4][6] It was the tenth and last month of the old Roman year, which began with March, and kept its name when January and February were added and it became the twelfth.[4][3][7]
The same Latin word is Dutch december, English December, French décembre and Swedish december.[4] Latin decem is related to the native zehn.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Middle High German december is recorded from about 1200, in a medical text, and in charters of the 13th century.[8] German inflected forms appear from the end of the 13th century, at first in charters, chronicles and translations: a letter of 1290 is dated an sand Luceyn abent in dem december “on the eve of Saint Lucy in December”.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
The older German name was Old High German heilagmānōd “holy month”, which was replaced by Christmond in the 15th century; other old names were Wintermonat, Hartmonat, Schlachtmonat and Wolfmonat.[3][9][10] The Latin name entered the general language only in the 17th century and has been inflected in German since then.[2][3] A text of 1450 explained the name as made of decem and ymber.[11]
Like other month names it is often used without the article and uninflected, as in seit Dezember.[2]
Timeline
- c. 1200 – Middle High German december appears in a medical text.[8]
- 1290 – A charter is dated in dem december.[2]
- 15th century – Christmond replaces the older native Heiligmonat.[3]
- 17th century – The Latin name becomes common in the general language and is inflected in German.[2][10]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- zehn
- dezimal
- Dekade
- Dekan
Usage notes
The abbreviation is Dez.[5]
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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. 6, 834
- ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 195
- ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ a b Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
- ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 219
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
- ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 413