Dienst

Forms

Dienst m (genitive Dienstes or Diensts, plural Dienste)^[1] In early Old High German the word was neuter, in Notker masculine;^[2] Middle High German used both, but since the 15th century it has been almost only masculine.^[2] A weak plural Diensten occurs from the 15th to the 18th century and in Swiss and western Low German dialects.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German dienest, inherited from Old High German dionōst, inherited from Proto-Germanic *þewanōstaz (“service”), an abstract noun formed with a suffix in -st from the verb dienen.^[3][4][1] The same word is Old Saxon thionost and Old Frisian thiānost, and with another suffix Old Norse þjónusta.^[3][2] Old English þēonest is recorded only once and is put down to Norse influence.^[2]

The verb, Old High German dionōn, continues Proto-Germanic *þewanōną (“to serve”), derived from Proto-Germanic *þewaz (“servant”), which is found in Gothic 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐍃 (þius, “servant”) and Old English þēow and in the first part of Demut.^[4][1][5] Pfeifer and Duden connect it with Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ- (“to run, flow”), as in Lithuanian tekėti (“to run, flow”) and Russian течь (teč’, “to flow”), so that the servant would first have been a “runner” and the verb meant “to be a servant”;^[4][5] Pfeifer calls this connection only possible.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates Old High German dionōst from glosses of about 765, and the Benedictine Rule (790/802) has dera deonosti for Latin servitii.^[6][2] It meant “service, waiting on someone, subjection, servitude”, and is found in Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and the Weißenburger Katechismus.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German dienest covered devotion, religious duties and attendance, and the duties of the feudal order, including the lover's service to his lady.^[4][8] It also meant the dues owed by a holding, in money, kind or labour (whence Frondienst), and the servants themselves.^[9][10] Religious service survives in Gottesdienst; Dienstmann translated Medieval Latin ministerialis, a lower vassal, and in the 19th century came to mean a porter.^[4]

Later the word came to mean a post or employment and the work done in it, and in the 20th century also an organisation providing a service, as in Geheimdienst.^[11][12] In art history Dienst is the slender shaft of a Gothic pier that carries a rib of the vault.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 765 – Old High German dionōst in glosses.^[6]
• 790/802 – Used in the Old High German Benedictine Rule.^[2]
• Before 1022 – Masculine in Notker.^[2]
• 13th century – Masculine gender becomes the usual one.^[2]
• 19th century – Dienstmann comes to mean a porter.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Work, the carrying out of one's professional duties: Die Ärztin hat heute Nachtdienst und beginnt ihren Dienst um 22 Uhr.^[11][1]
2. A post, an employment, an office: in den Dienst einer Firma treten.^[11]
3. A branch of public service: der öffentliche Dienst.^[11]
4. A group of people or an organisation providing a service: der ärztliche Dienst.^[11][12]
5. Help, assistance, a favour: jemandem einen Dienst erweisen.^[11][12]
6. (architecture) A slender shaft in Gothic architecture that carries a rib of the vault.^[11][12]
7. (computing) A service, a program that runs without a user interface.^[12]

Word family

• dienstbar
• dienstlich
• Gottesdienst
• Dienstbote
• Dienstleistung
• Dienstmann
• Geheimdienst
• Bärendienst
• Frondienst

Related words

• dienen
• Diener
• verdienen
• Demut

Usage notes

Außer Dienst after a title marks a retired official or officer.^[11] Jemandem auf den Dienst lauern, to watch someone closely in the hope of catching them out, originally meant to watch whether a servant did his duty.^[11] Dienst ist Dienst, und Schnaps ist Schnaps is a saying that work and pleasure must be kept apart.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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, 974
3. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 199
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 73
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org