Mitglied

Forms

Mitglied n (genitive Mitgliedes or Mitglieds, plural Mitglieder, feminine (nonstandard) Mitgliederin or Mitgliedin)^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from German mit- + Glied.^[1][2] Kluge describes it as a strengthening of Glied in the sense “part of a community”.^[3] Adelung compares Medieval Latin commembris.^[4] The base noun is Middle High German gelit, Old High German gilid, a collective formation to an older noun Proto-Germanic *liþuz (“joint, limb”), seen in Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (liþus) and lid.^[5][6]

Kluge dates the word to the 16th century, but Köbler records Middle High German mitegelit (“member”) in Meister Eckhart, before 1326.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German mitegelit is found in Meister Eckhart, before 1326, meaning “member, adherent”.^[7] In the 16th century Luther still used it as a clear image: secular rule ist ein mitglied worden des christlichen cörpers “has become a fellow limb of the Christian body”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms' dictionary explains that the image of the body faded, although a society or authority is still called a Körperschaft.^[8] Kaspar Stieler records the modern sense, as in mitglid der fruchtbringenden gesellschaft, a member of the Fruitbearing Society.^[9][8] The Early New High German dictionary shows it used of persons, estates and towns as parts of a larger body.^[10] Adelung noted around 1800 that the simple Glied would often say the same, but that the compound had become more usual.^[4]

Timeline

• Before 1326 – Middle High German mitegelit is used by Meister Eckhart.^[7]
• 16th century – Luther calls secular rule a mitglied of the Christian body.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A member of a community or family: ein Mitglied des Königshauses.^[11]
2. A person who has joined an association, party or club: Mitglied in einem Sportverein werden.^[11][1]
3. A member of a government or parliament: Mitglied des Bundestages.^[11]

Word family

• Mitgliedschaft
• Mitgliedsbeitrag
• Ehrenmitglied

Related words

• Glied
• mit

Usage notes

The feminine forms Mitgliederin and Mitgliedin are nonstandard.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 627
4. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
5. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 2350
9. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
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 c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag