Finale

Forms

Finale n (genitive Finales or Finals, plural Finale or Finals)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian finale (“end, finale”), from Latin fīnālis (“at the end, concerning the boundaries”), a derivative of fīnis (“end, boundary”).^[2][3][4] Pfeifer notes that the Italian word is only certain from the 18th century and suggests that the German one may instead come directly from the neuter of the Latin adjective, used as a noun; the Italian musical term would then have spread it.^[5] The revised Grimm dictionary and the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch also take it from Latin fīnāle or from Italian.^[6][7] It was first borrowed in the short form Final.^[2][5]

The sports sense came in the 20th century: Kluge, the revised Grimm dictionary and Wiktionary see the influence of English final, Duden perhaps French.^[2][6][1][3] The same word is Dutch finale and English finale.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimm dictionary has an early record in a 16th-century copy of the Limburg Chronicle, from the 14th century, which says that the singers sang in dem final des sanges “in the final part of the song”.^[6] As a musical term final, the closing part of a piece, is recorded from 1567;^[6][2] Kluge first finds the word with the meaning “final letter”.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century only the form final occurs; in 1616 a dance ends “with a lovely falling final after the music”.^[6][7] The form Finale is found in 1667, when the colonel “with his coarse voice holds out alone and makes the Finale”, and it prevailed in the 19th century, helped by Italian musical usage.^[7][6][5] It named the last movement of a large instrumental work and the closing scene of an act of an opera.^[7][8] From this came the figurative sense of a brilliant ending of anything, and in the 20th century the sports sense of a final contest, in which the plural is often Finals.^[5][8] Hungarian borrowed it as finálé in 1853.^[9]

Timeline

• 14th century – final des sanges in the Limburg Chronicle, in a 16th-century copy.^[6]
• 1567 – final as a musical term.^[6]
• 1667 – The form Finale.^[7]
• 19th century – Finale replaces Final.^[6]
• 1853 – Hungarian finálé is recorded.^[9]
• 20th century – The sense “final match” under English influence.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (music) The last movement of a large instrumental work, usually the fourth: the finale.^[8][1]
2. (music) The closing scene of an act of an opera or other stage work.^[8]
3. (formal) A brilliant climax at the end of something: Ein Konzert im Schlosshof bildete das Finale des Festes.^[8][10]
4. (sports) The final, the last match or contest of a competition: Unsere Mannschaft steht im Finale.^[8][1]
5. (sports) A final spurt.^[8]

Word family

• Finalist

Related words

• Final
• fein
• Finanzen
• definieren
• Infinitiv

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 295
3. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 285
4. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
5. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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, 493
7. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
8. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org