Etymologically
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Kollege

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Pronunciation

  • /kɔˈleːɡə/, [kɔ-], [ko-][1]

Forms

Kollege m (genitive Kollegen, plural Kollegen, feminine Kollegin)[1] In the 17th and 18th centuries the Latin form Collega was still common, especially in the address Herr Collega, while German endings were used early in the inflected cases.[2] The Latin form of address survives in some professional circles.[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin collēga (“colleague in office”), borrowed in the 16th century.[4][3][5] The Latin word is made of con- (“with”) and a word for law or delegation, in a way Kluge calls morphologically not quite clear: Kluge, Duden and the Duden dictionary connect it with lēgō (“to appoint by law, delegate”), so “fellow delegate”,[4][6][5] a verb that Duden derives from lēx (“law”),[5] and Pfeifer thinks it was probably formed from collēgium.[3] Wahrig instead connects the second part with the Latin verb for “to gather, read”.[7]

The same word is Dutch collega, English colleague, French collègue and Swedish kollega.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch first records it in 1563, in Mathesius' book on marriage, addressed to meinem trewen Collegen “my faithful colleague”, in the sense of a fellow holder of an office.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Kluge explains the Latin word from the Roman republic's rule that public offices were held by several equal colleagues, such as the two consuls, to limit the power of individuals; the meaning was later generalised.[4] In German it was used at first of fellow preachers, teachers and officials, as in Schul-Collegen (1642), and Herr Collega was a common form of address in the 18th century, still used by Schiller in 1801.[2]

The modern word covers someone in the same profession, a workmate in the same firm and a fellow member of an organisation such as a trade union; in the German Democratic Republic it was also used for a fellow worker, and in slangy speech it addresses a stranger.[6][9] It was borrowed as Polish kolega.[1]

Timeline

  • 1563 – First record, in Mathesius.[2][8]
  • 1642 – Kollegium is used for a body of colleagues.[8]
  • 1661 – First record of the adjective kollegialisch.[8]
  • 1714 – Herr Collega is used as a form of address.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person in the same profession: Die Ärztin besprach den Fall mit einem Kollegen aus Wien.[6][1]
  2. A coworker in the same firm or office: Mein Kollege aus der Buchhaltung ist heute krank.[6][1]
  3. A fellow member of the same organisation, such as a trade union.[6][9]
  4. (German Democratic Republic) A fellow worker, comrade.[6]
  5. (slang) A form of address to a stranger or a friend: Hey, Kollege, hilf mir mal tragen![6][1]

Word family

  • Kollegin
  • Amtskollege
  • Arbeitskollege
  • Kolleg
  • Kollega
  • kollegial
  • Kollegium

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  3. ^ a b c Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 514
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 454
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  9. ^ a b Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag