Etymologically
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Müller

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Pronunciation

Forms

Müller m (genitive Müllers, plural Müller, diminutive Müllerchen n or Müllerlein n, feminine Müllerin)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German müller, inherited from Old High German mulināri, borrowed from Late Latin molīnārius (“miller”), borrowed in the 11th century.[2][3][4] The Latin noun belongs to molīna (“mill”), the source of Mühle, and so to the family of mahlen.[3][5][6] Kluge treats the borrowing as likely, like that of Old Norse mylnari, but does not quite exclude a Germanic derivation from the word for “mill”.[2]

The Middle High German form arose from older mülner and mülnære when /ln/ was assimilated to /ll/; the Grimms' dictionary dates the assimilated form to the 14th century.[7][8] The word spread as a loan through Low and High German and into Scandinavian: Old Saxon mulineri, Middle Low German molner, Dutch molenaar and mulder, English miller, Swedish mjölnare and Icelandic malari are the same word, and French meunier continues the Latin noun.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German mulināri “miller” is found only in the glosses,[9] first in glosses of the 11th or 12th century.[6] Middle High German mülnære appears in charters from 1263.[10]

Semantic evolution

The older form mülner lived on in New High German and was still listed by Stieler, but later survived mainly in the surname Müllner and in Upper German dialects, such as Carinthian müllnar.[7] The assimilated müller became the usual form in the 16th century.[7] Central and Low German had moller and möller.[7]

Early New High German records deal at length with the miller's legal position, his duty to keep the mill and the water in order, his pay and dues, and his reputation for small dishonest dealings.[8] Luther's Bible counts “the sound of the millers” among the everyday sounds that would fall silent in the land (Jeremiah 25).[7] Adelung distinguished the corn miller, the plain Müller, from the Windmüller, Wassermüller, Walkmüller (fuller), Schneidemüller (sawmiller) and others, and gave the feminine Müllerin.[11]

Timeline

  • 11th century – Borrowed from Latin; first record in Old High German glosses.[2][6]
  • 1263 – Middle High German mülnære in a charter.[10]
  • 14th century – The assimilated form muller, müller appears.[7]
  • 1441 – Möller in a Weistum from the Wetterau.[7]
  • 1458 – müller und brotbegken (millers and bakers) in Basel legal sources.[7]
  • 16th century – Müller becomes the usual form.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A miller: a craftsman who grinds grain or other material in a mill; also an occupational title.[5][1][12]

Word family

  • Müllerin
  • Windmüller
  • Wassermüller

Usage notes

Müller is also a very common surname that began as the name of the trade;[1][12] the German Wiktionary counts it as the most frequent surname in Germany and Switzerland and the fourth in Austria.[12] Low German Möller and older Müllner also survive as surnames.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 639
  3. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 569
  4. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  5. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 2654
  8. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 228
  10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  11. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  12. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org