Februar

Forms

Februar m (genitive Februars or Februar, plural Februare)^[1] In Austria the month is also called Feber.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin Februārius (“month of purification”), short for mēnsis Februārius, taken into German in the 15th century.^[3][4][5] The Latin adjective belongs to februō (“to purify”) and februum (“means of purification”): the month was named after the rites of purification and atonement held for the living and the dead in its second half.^[3][2] It was the last month of the old Roman year, which began on 1 March, and Kluge sees in this the reason for its unusual length.^[3][4]

The same Latin name is the source of Dutch februari, English February, French février and Swedish februari.^[3] Wahrig traces the Latin word further to a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰwes- (“to fumigate”), but Köbler marks such a connection as doubtful.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin name already appears as a foreign word in a German text of Notker (before 1022), and the Middle High German form febrer is recorded in a document of 1299, meaning the second month of the year.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century the Latin name, at first mostly in its Latin form, competed with the native names Hornung and Sporkel, and it gained ground quickly through the language of charters and chanceries and the humanists' liking for Latin.^[4][9] Duden dates the end of the old names to the 16th century, but Hornung still lives on in regional speech.^[2][4][5] Until the 18th century the word often kept Latin case endings, as in im februario (1712) or den 28. oder 29. februarii (1770).^[8]

Upper and Central German adapted the name as Feber, in the same way as Jänner beside Januar.^[4][5]

Timeline

• Before 1022 – Notker uses the Latin month name in a German text.^[8]
• 1299 – Middle High German febrer appears in a document.^[7]
• 15th century – Februar begins to compete with the native name Hornung.^[4][3]
• 1512 – febrer is written in the household book of the Nuremberg Tucher family.^[8]
• 16th century – Hornung and Sporkel give way to Februar in the standard language.^[2]
• 18th century – Latin case endings such as februarii are still in use.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. February, the second month of the year, with 28 days, or 29 in a leap year: Im Februar fahren wir in die Berge.^[10][1][9]

Related words

• Hornung
• Januar

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 260
3. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 282
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ 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. 9, 220
9. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
10. ^ Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag