Etymologically
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Geburtstag

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈbuːɐ̯t͡sˌtaːk/[1]

Forms

Geburtstag m (genitive Geburtstages or Geburtstags, plural Geburtstage)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German geburttac, inherited from Old High German giburtitago (“day of birth”), formed from German Geburt + Tag as a loan translation of Latin diēs nātālis (“birthday”).[2][3][4] The first part continues Old High German giburt (“birth”), an abstract noun of the family of gebären, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”);[3] Old English had a similar compound, Old English gebyrddæġ (compare English birthday).[5] The linking ⟨s⟩ was added later: forms without it were still used in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Jean Paul still wrote the word without it.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German giburtitago is recorded from the 9th century and giburtitag from about 1000, meaning the day on which someone was born.[3][6][2] Middle High German geburttac appears in the Genesis of 1060–1080.[7]

Semantic evolution

Following the use of Tag for an anniversary, the word took on in the 16th century its modern sense, the day on which a birth comes round again and is celebrated.[2] The Grimms' dictionary points out that the celebration was then not yet a middle-class custom: Thomas Platter did not even know his year of birth, and the custom seems to have spread to the middle classes in the 17th century in imitation of the courts, while it was still not really at home among the peasants in the 19th.[5] In official language it can also mean the date of birth.[8] The word was borrowed into the Silesian dialect of Polish as geburstag and into Kashubian as gebùrstach.[9][1]

Timeline

  • 9th century – Old High German giburtitago is recorded.[3][2]
  • About 1000 – The form giburtitag, without final -o.[3]
  • 1060–1080 – Middle High German geburttac in the Genesis.[7]
  • 16th century – The sense “anniversary of one's birth, celebrated” appears;[2][5] Luther's Bible has des königs geburtstag.[2][5]
  • 17th century – Birthday celebrations spread from the courts to the middle classes.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A birthday, the anniversary of one's birth: Mein Bruder feiert morgen seinen vierzigsten Geburtstag.[8][1]
  2. (official language) The date of birth.[8][6]

Word family

  • Geburtstagskind
  • Geburtstagsfeier

Usage notes

Ein runder Geburtstag is one on which someone turns 30, 40, 50 and so on.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 338
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 305
  5. ^ a b c d e f Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 4, 1911
  6. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de