Hof

Forms

Hof m (genitive Hofes or Hofs, plural Höfe, diminutive Höfchen n)^[1] The plural was originally without umlaut, which is why place names such as Königshofen keep the old dative plural.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German hof, inherited from Old High German hof, inherited from Proto-Germanic *hufą.^[3][1][4] The same word is Old Saxon hof, Old Frisian hof (“court, yard”), Old English hof (“house, hall”) and Old Norse hof (“temple”);^[3][4][5] Gothic has no record of it.^[3][4][5]

Its origin is not certain.^[6][7] Kluge compares Latin cavum aedium (“courtyard”), literally “hollow of the house”, and a Greek gloss word for wooden dwellings with an enclosure, and thinks that it may first have named an estate or sanctuary on a hill, which would connect it with Hobel and Hügel.^[3] Pfeifer and Duden likewise derive it from a root Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“to bend, arch”), in the sense “rise, hill”, pointing to dialectal Norwegian hov (“hillock”) and the Old Norse sense “temple”; another view starts from a wall of wattle and clay, an enclosed space.^[8][6] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *kHúp-o-.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German hof is recorded from the early 9th century in glosses, and in the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker; it rendered Latin area, atrium, aula, curtis and palatium and meant a forecourt, a farmstead or estate, a seat and a ruler's court.^[9][5][10] The compound hovawart “farm dog” is older, from the 8th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “princely court”, already found in Old High German and Old Saxon and clear in Middle High German, developed under the influence of Old French cort and Medieval Latin curtis; most of the derivatives, such as höfisch, höflich and hofieren, start from it.^[8][3][6] Höfisch is a loan translation of Old French corteis, and the phrase jemandem den Hof machen is a translation of French faire la cour.^[6][11]

Since the 14th century, first in Konrad von Megenberg, the word has also meant the halo round the sun or moon, probably from the idea of an enclosure.^[3][2][12] In Low German it meant a garden, an enclosed piece of land, as in Baumhof or Kirchhof.^[13][14] It was also transferred to institutions: Gasthof, Gerichtshof, Bahnhof, Schlachthof.^[2]

Timeline

• 8th century – The compound hovawart “farm dog” is recorded.^[3]
• Early 9th century – Old High German hof in glosses.^[9]
• c. 1150 – Middle High German hof in the Kaiserchronik.^[15]
• 1350 – Konrad von Megenberg speaks of the hof of the moon and sun.^[2][12]
• 1642 – Hofmeister is first recorded in the sense “private tutor”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A yard or courtyard, an open space enclosed by buildings, walls or a fence: Die Kinder spielen im Hof.^[11][1]
2. A farm, with its buildings and land: Sie hat den Hof ihrer Eltern übernommen.^[11][1]
3. The court of a ruler, his residence and the people around him: am Hof des Kaisers.^[11][1][16]
4. A halo round the sun or moon; a ring of different colour round something.^[11][16]

Word family

• Gehöft
• höfisch
• höflich
• hofieren
• Höfling
• Bauernhof
• Bahnhof
• Friedhof
• Hinterhof
• Hofmeister
• Hofnarr

Related words

• hübsch
• Hügel

Usage notes

Jemandem den Hof machen is to court someone, originally the attentive behaviour of courtiers towards their prince.^[11][6] Hof halten is said of a ruler holding court, and jokingly of anyone surrounded by admirers.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 420
4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 1085
6. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 373
7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
8. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 155
11. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities
13. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 1654
14. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 2, 1232
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
16. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org