Etymologically
Log in

Grüne

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

Grüne f (genitive Grüne, plural Grünen)[1] The neuter das Grüne, the noun use of the adjective, is declined like an adjective (im Grünen, ins Grüne).[2]

Etymology

The feminine is inherited from Middle High German grüene, inherited from Old High German gruonī, an abstract noun formed with the suffix /-ī/ from the adjective grün, like Old High German rōtī (“redness”).[3][1][4] It corresponds to Middle Low German grȫne and Middle Dutch groene; with a dental suffix, the same base gave Dutch groente.[3]

The adjective, gruoni, Proto-Germanic *grōniz, was formed with the suffix /-ni-/ from the verb Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow”), continued in Old English grōwan and English grow; it first meant “growing, sprouting” and only then the colour of young plants.[5][6][7] Pfeifer and Duden take the verb back to a root Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to stick out”), which also gave Gras and Granne.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German gruonī is first found in glosses at the beginning of the 9th century, and in Notker; it meant “green, green turf, green meadow, fresh growth”.[4][9] The earliest records already use it concretely for green plants and for ground covered with them.[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German grüene meant greenness, literal and figurative, and land covered with green;[10][3] des meien kunft mit grüene “the coming of May with its green” is in Lohengrin.[10][3] Early New High German also used it for foliage and grass, a meadow or tournament ground, open country, the freshness of youth, innocence and the unripeness of fruit.[11]

The feminine was common until about 1800, then withdrew into poetry, displaced by the neuters das Grün and das Grüne; it survives in some Upper German dialects and in many place and field names.[3] The neuter spread from the 16th century, in im Grünen “in the open country” and ins Grüne fahren “to go out into the country”.[7] Adelung knew the feminine only as a regional word for fresh grass and green crops, and as a miners' name for verdigris.[12]

Timeline

  • Early 9th century – Old High German gruonī appears in glosses.[4][7]
  • 1480 – A Latin–German vocabulary glosses viror with die grune.[3]
  • 16th century – The neuter das Grüne spreads, with im Grünen.[7]
  • About 1800 – The feminine retreats into poetic language.[3]
  • Second half of the 20th century – grün takes the sense “ecological”.[8]
  • 1982 – Dutch records groenen “supporters of the environmental party”.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (feminine, dated or poetic) greenness, green colour.[1][3]
  2. (feminine, regional) Fresh grass, green crops.[12][3]
  3. (neuter, das Grüne) Green colour: der Stoff spielt ins Grüne.[2]
  4. (neuter, colloquial) Green plants, greenery; salad and vegetables, herbs; green fodder.[2]
  5. (neuter) The open country, in im Grünen and ins Grüne.[2]

Usage notes

Im Grünen wohnen is to live out in the country, and ins Grüne fahren to go on an outing into the countryside.[2] Since the second half of the 20th century the adjective has also meant “ecological”,[8] and in that sense the plural die Grünen names the environmental party;[13] Dutch took groenen “supporters of the environmental party” in 1982.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 9, 933
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 378
  6. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 667
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 134
  10. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1098
  11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  12. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 2, 838
  13. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de