Etymologically
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Einrichtung

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʔaɪ̯nʁɪçtʊŋ/[1]

Forms

Einrichtung f (genitive Einrichtung, plural Einrichtungen)[1]

Etymology

It is from German einrichten + -ung, a noun of action from the verb einrichten, which is ein- and richten.[1][2][3] The verb is Middle High German înrichten, first recorded in 1338, and corresponds to Middle Low German inrichten and Dutch inrichten.[4][5] The noun has the same counterparts, inrichtinge and inrichting.[2]

The base verb continues Old High German rihten, a factitive verb “to make straight” formed from the adjective recht.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimms' dictionary has the noun from about 1538, in Thomas Kantzow's chronicle of Pomerania, in the sense “arrangement, ordering” (of a narrative); from 1569 it is used for the planning and carrying out of measures, in documents of the estates of the Mark Brandenburg.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the 17th and 18th centuries Einrichtung was used for the way a thing is made up or works: the arrangement of a speech, a machine, a school or a diet; it is frequent with Lessing and Goethe for the ordering of a household or a business.[2][7] The verb also had a medical sense, “to set a dislocated limb” (1647), and the Grimms record the noun for this too.[8][7]

Adelung notes that in everyday speech Einrichtung was what a household needs, its furniture, a sense that comes from the verb's meaning “to furnish”.[8][9] From “to set up, found” (Schulen einrichten) came the sense “institution”, as in Musil's soziale Einrichtungen “social institutions”.[8]

Timeline

  • 1338 – The verb înrichten appears in a Middle High German version of the Book of Job.[4][5]
  • c. 1538 – First record of the noun, in Kantzow's chronicle of Pomerania.[2]
  • 1569 – Einrichtung is used for the setting up of offices.[2]
  • 1647 – einrichten is recorded for setting a dislocated limb.[8]
  • 18th century – Adelung records Einrichtung for the furnishings of a household.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (no plural) The act of setting up, arranging or furnishing something: Die Einrichtung des Labors dauerte drei Monate.[10][1]
  2. The furniture and fittings of a room or building: Die Einrichtung der Praxis ist hell und modern.[10][1]
  3. A technical device or installation: sanitäre Einrichtungen.[10][1]
  4. An institution or facility, especially one for public use: eine soziale Einrichtung, kulturelle Einrichtungen.[10][1]
  5. A habit or custom: Der Sonntagsspaziergang wurde bei ihnen zur festen Einrichtung.[10]

Word family

  • Inneneinrichtung
  • Einrichtungsgegenstand

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. 7, 915
  3. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ 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. 7, 912
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 250
  8. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  9. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  10. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag