Hauptstadt

Forms

Hauptstadt f (genitive Hauptstadt, plural Hauptstädte, diminutive Hauptstädtchen n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German houbetstat, inherited from Old High German houbitstat, a compound from German Haupt (“head”) + Stadt (“town”).^[2][3][4] The first part, Middle High German houbet, Old High German houbit, Proto-Germanic *haubidą, is the old word for the head, the same as Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ) and Old English hēafod, and is related to Latin caput, though the diphthong of the Germanic form is not fully explained.^[5][2] The second part is Middle High German stat, Old High German stat “place”, which took over the meaning “town” only after 1200, from older Burg.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German houbitstat “capital, metropolis” is recorded twice, in glosses of the 10th century.^[3][2] Middle High German houbetstat meant the foremost town of a country: in Hartmann's Gregorius a ruler is driven back until only his houbetstat is left to him, and Wolfram's Parzival names Capua as the houbetstat of the Terre de Labur.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Luther's Bible uses heubtstad for the chief town of a land (Hebron, Hazor, Philippi), and Maaler's dictionary of 1561 glosses it with Latin metropolis.^[7] Because the first town of a country is usually where its ruler resides, the word also came to mean the residence; the formula Haupt- und Residenzstadt was common in the 19th century.^[7] Adelung defines it as the most important town of a province, either because the head of state lives there or because the chief courts and offices are there, and notes that it could also simply mean the largest town.^[8] The Grimms also record the senses “mother city of a colony” and “chief town for some product or activity”.^[7] Today it means the town where the government sits.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 10th century – Old High German houbitstat appears in glosses.^[3]
• c. 1200 – Hartmann von Aue and Wolfram von Eschenbach use houbetstat.^[7]
• 16th century – Luther's Bible has heubtstad.^[7]
• 1561 – Maaler glosses hauptstatt as metropolis.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The capital of a country or region, the (often largest) town in which the government has its seat: Wien ist die Hauptstadt Österreichs.^[4][1][9]

Word family

• Bundeshauptstadt
• Landeshauptstadt
• hauptstädtisch

Related words

• Haupt
• Stadt
• Hauptmann
• Häuptling

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 399
6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 874
7. ^ a b c d e f g Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 631
8. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 2, 1018
9. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org