Erinnerung

Forms

Erinnerung f (genitive Erinnerung, plural Erinnerungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German erinnern + -ung, formed in the 15th century, beside Middle Low German erinneringe, older erinninge.^[2][3][4] The verb erinnern (14th century; Middle High German innern, geinnern (“to make aware, remind”)) is derived from Old High German innaro (“inner”), the comparative behind inner, and first meant “to make someone aware of something”.^[5][2][3] The adjective belongs to in, from Proto-Germanic *in (“in”).^[6][7]

Pfeifer mentions Old High German giinnaren (in a 12th-century manuscript) as perhaps the same verb, but it glosses Latin aperiō (“to open”), and the EWA thinks the connection doubtful because of the meaning, though possible in form.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimm's first record is from 1430, in the sense “admonition, request, a reminder not to forget something”.^[4] The Early New High German dictionary also records the senses “demand for payment”, “comment”, “recollection, memory” and “spiritual instruction”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century the main sense was “reminder, admonition”, as in Luther's letters of 1545 (christliche erinnerung).^[4] The sense “memory, remembrance” is in Luther too, and is the usual one in the 18th century, in Schiller and Goethe.^[10] Adelung distinguishes the act of reminding from the state of remembering, and records Erinnerungsvermögen “the power of memory”.^[11]

In the plural Erinnerungen are memoirs, and in German law an Erinnerung is a remedy against a decision not made by a judge.^[12][1]

Timeline

• 14th century – The verb erinnern appears.^[5][2]
• 1430 – First record of Erinnerung, meaning “admonition”.^[4]
• 1545 – Luther writes of a christliche erinnerung (“Christian admonition”).^[4]
• 1793 – Adelung records Erinnerungsvermögen.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ability to remember; memory.^[12][1]
2. A recollection: something one remembers, a remembered experience.^[12][1]
3. Remembrance, commemoration: zur Erinnerung an “in memory of”.^[12]
4. A keepsake, a memento.^[12][1]
5. (plural) Memoirs, an autobiography.^[12]
6. A reminder.^[12][1]
7. (law, Germany) A legal remedy against a decision not taken by a judge, or against the manner of enforcement.^[12][1]

Word family

• Erinnerungsvermögen
• Erinnerungslücke

Related words

• erinnern
• inner

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c d e 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. 8, 1842
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 255
6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 445
7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 441
8. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 105
9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
10. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 860
11. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1904
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag