Meinung

Forms

Meinung f (genitive Meinung, plural Meinungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German meinunge, inherited from Old High German meinunga, formed with the suffix -unga from the verb meinen, modern meinen.^[2][3][1] The same formation is found in Middle Low German mêininge, Middle Dutch meninge and Old Frisian meninge, and Dutch mening and English meaning correspond to it.^[4][1]

The verb is Proto-Germanic *mainijaną (“to mean, think”), the same as Old Saxon mēnian, Old English mǣnan (now English mean) and Old Frisian mēna;^[2][5] Kluge treats it as West Germanic.^[2][5] Outside Germanic it matches Old Church Slavonic мѣнити (měniti, “to think, mention”) and Old Irish mían (“wish, desire”).^[2][3][5] Kroonen sees in it a causative Proto-Indo-European *moyn-éye-.^[5] Kluge derives it from the word for “exchange” behind gemein and Meineid, so that the verb first meant “to give one's opinion in turn”.^[2] Duden calls the further connections unclear.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German meinunga is found about 1000 in Notker's Boethius, meaning “cause, reason”: houbet unde meinunga renders Latin “sum and cause”.^[4][7] A stylus gloss has it for “opinion, estimate”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German meinunge covered “sense, meaning, thought, attitude, intention” and also “affection, love”, as the verb meinen could mean “to love”.^[3][8] Luther often uses it for the sense of words: wenig wort und viel meinung ist christlich, “few words and much meaning is Christian”.^[9] Early New High German also used it for “intention, will”, even “last will”.^[10]

By Adelung's time the word was limited mainly to “opinion, judgement on probable grounds”.^[11] Die öffentliche Meinung “public opinion” is a loan translation of French opinion publique.^[12] Slovene manenga was borrowed from it.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old High German meinunga in Notker.^[4]
• Middle High German – meinunge “intention, affection”.^[3]
• 16th century – Luther uses it for the sense of words.^[9]
• 1793 – Adelung limits it to “opinion”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An opinion, personal view: Meiner Meinung nach ist das zu teuer.^[12][1]
2. An estimate or judgement of someone: eine hohe Meinung von jemandem haben.^[12][14]
3. The prevailing view of the public: die öffentliche Meinung.^[12]

Word family

• Meinungsfreiheit
• Meinungsumfrage
• Meinungsverschiedenheit

Related words

• meinen
• vermeinen
• vermeintlich
• English meaning

Usage notes

Jemandem die Meinung sagen (slangy geigen) means “to give someone a piece of one's mind”.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 613
3. ^ a b c d 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 Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 6, 374
5. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 218
8. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 2080
9. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 1938
10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
11. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 161
12. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
13. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
14. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org