Eltern

Forms

Eltern pl (plural only)^[1] The spelling Ältern was frequent in the 16th century and still demanded by Adelung; the spelling with E won through once the link with alt was no longer felt.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German eltern, inherited from Old High German eltiron, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *aldizōn-, the plural of the comparative of alt used as a noun: “the older ones”.^[4][2][5] The same word is Old Saxon eldiron, Old English eldran and Old Frisian elder, and today Dutch ouders and English elders.^[4][2] Kluge compares Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌽𐍃 (airizans, “ancestors”), formed from 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐍃 (airis, “earlier”).^[4] Other substantivised comparatives are Herr and Jünger.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded from the 8th or 9th century in glosses, where altirom translates Latin parentibus, and in Tatian.^[6][7][4] Old High German had both altiron and eltiron, with umlaut.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From “the elders” the sense narrowed to “father and mother”, often set against Kinder; in Early New High German it could also mean “ancestors”, as in die ersten Eltern for Adam and Eve.^[3][8] The Grimms note that it was also used of animals.^[9] In genetics a back-formed singular Elter was used from 1903, but Elternteil is the usual word.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 8th/9th century – altirom glosses Latin parentibus.^[6]
• 1227 – Middle Low German elderen appears in a charter.^[6]
• 16th century – elterlich and elternlos are recorded, and the spelling Ältern is frequent.^[3][2]
• Early 19th century – Elternhaus is recorded.^[3]
• 1860 – Nicht von schlechten Eltern is recorded as a popular phrase.^[6]
• 1903 – The back-formed singular Elter appears in genetics.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Parents: father and mother.^[5][1]

Word family

• Elternhaus
• elterlich
• elternlos
• Elternteil
• Elternschaft
• Großeltern

Related words

• alt
• älter
• English elder

Usage notes

Nicht von schlechten Eltern sein (colloquial) means “to be quite something, not bad at all”, said of a blow, a joke or an achievement;^[5][3] Paul dates it to the first half of the 19th century.^[5][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 243
5. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c d 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, 1242
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 418