Etymologically
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Hund

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Pronunciation

Forms

Hund m (genitive Hundes or Hunds, plural Hunde or (regionally) Hünde, diminutive Hündchen n or Hündlein n or Hundchen n or Hunderl n or Hundi n or Hundilein n, masculine (for the animal) Rüde, feminine (for the animal) Hündin or Petze or Zaupe or Zibbe)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German hunt, inherited from Old High German hunt, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hund, inherited from Proto-Germanic *hundaz (“dog”).[2][1][3] The same word is Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (hunds), Old Norse hundr, Old English hund, Old Frisian hund and Old Saxon hund, and today Dutch hond, English hound and Swedish hund.[2][4][3] English “hound” has narrowed to a hunting dog.[4][5]

The Germanic word has a dental extension of the Indo-European name of the dog, Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ, which appears without it in Sanskrit श्वन् (śván), Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn), Latin canis, Old Irish cú, Welsh ci, Lithuanian šuõ, Tocharian B ku and Hittite kuwaš.[2][4][6] The Latin form is irregular in its sounds.[2][4] Orel reconstructs the Germanic form as Proto-Indo-European *ḱun-tó- and compares Latvian sùnt-ene (“big dog”).[6][1] The further origin is unclear.[2] A link with the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱeu- (“to shine”), as if named for its colour, is doubtful; others explain the dental as a participle of a root meaning “to come forth fresh”, seen in Middle Irish cana (“wolf cub”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German hunt is recorded from the 8th century in the Abrogans and other glosses, then in Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and the Wiener Hundesegen, a charm for dogs.[2][7][8] It meant the dog, also the hunting hound.[9]

Semantic evolution

The dog is probably the oldest domestic animal of the Indo-Europeans.[10][4] German speech shows it in two lights: as a faithful guard and helper in Hundeblick, Wachhund and Schäferhund, and far more often as a despised creature, in the adjective hündisch, in Hundeleben and Hundelohn, and as a term of abuse.[10][4] Middle High German already called a villain a hunt, as in the Kaiserchronik.[11][12] It also named the Dog Star, Sirius.[12]

Many idioms are old.[7][13] Middle High German had slâfenden hunt wecken, today schlafende Hunde wecken, to stir up trouble by drawing attention to something.[7][14] Luther has damit kann man keinen Hund hinter dem Ofen hervorlocken, that tempts nobody.[13] Vor die Hunde gehen (17th century), to go to ruin, probably comes from game that falls to the hounds.[13][10] Da liegt der Hund begraben (17th century), that is the heart of the matter, is of unclear origin.[13][14] Auf den Hund kommen (1664), to come down in the world, has been explained by the old punishment of carrying a dog in public, by the falling order “from horse to donkey” to dog, or by Baroque chests with a dog engraved on their bottom; none of these is proven.[13][10]

From the middle of the 16th century miners called a small truck a Hund or Hunt.[4][7][10] The Great and Little Dog in the sky render the Latin names Canis Major and Canis Minor.[14]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German hunt appears in glosses.[2][9]
  • 863–871 – Otfrid uses hunt.[9]
  • 1150–1170 – Middle High German hunt in Lamprecht's Alexander.[12]
  • Mid-16th century – Hund names a miner's truck.[4][7]
  • 16th century – Hund is common as a term of abuse.[4]
  • 1664 – First record of auf den Hund kommen.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dog, the domestic animal kept for its watchfulness and loyalty, with a keen sense of hearing and smell: Der Hund bellt jeden Briefträger an.[14][1]
  2. A male dog, as distinct from the Hündin.[14]
  3. (slang) A person, a fellow: ein armer Hund, a poor devil;[14][1] (derogatory) a scoundrel: Dieser gerissene Hund hat uns alle betrogen.[14][1]
  4. (mining) A small truck for hauling ore or coal, also spelled Hunt.[14][15][10]
  5. (astronomy) der Große Hund, der Kleine Hund: the constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor.[14]

Word family

  • hündisch
  • Hündin
  • verhunzen
  • Schweinehund
  • zynisch
  • English hound

Usage notes

Bekannt wie ein bunter Hund, known everywhere, is recorded by Stieler;[13][14] wie Hund und Katze, of two who cannot get on, already has a Middle High German model.[13][14] In Swiss and other regional speech Hund also names tools and parts of carts, such as a lever for tightening chains.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 430
  3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 1910
  6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 1232
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 160
  9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1387
  12. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  15. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de