Etymologically
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Modell

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Pronunciation

Forms

Modell n (genitive Modells, plural Modelle)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian modello (“pattern, model”), borrowed around 1600 as a term of the visual arts.[2][3][4] The Italian word goes back to Vulgar Latin *modellus, which stands for Latin modulus (“small measure; scale”), the diminutive of modus (“measure, manner”) (see Modus).[3][5][6] According to the Grimms it came in through the goldsmiths of Nuremberg, Augsburg, Strasbourg and Basel, who obtained patterns in lead and plaster from Italy.[7][3]

It replaced an older loan from the Latin diminutive, Model (a mould or pattern), Middle High German model, already found as Old High German modul in Notker (around 1000), where it is a technical term for a conjunction.[3][8][9] The same word is Dutch model, English model and French modèle.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a letter of the Augsburg art dealer Philipp Hainhofer of 1610, about a copper basin and jug that serve zu ainem modell.[4][10] Dictionaries list it from 1668 (Böckler), and Stieler (1691) defines it as a pattern in plaster or lead.[7]

Semantic evolution

From the workshops of goldsmiths, founders, painters and sculptors the word spread into general use, pushing Model back into the language of craftsmen and the dialects.[7][4] By 1656 it was used for a pattern or example in general, and in the 18th century for a scale reproduction of an object and a person who poses for an artist (Winckelmann 1755, Modell sitzen, stehen).[4][10] Later senses are the type of a manufactured product, a one-off garment of a fashion house, and in science a simplified representation of a system.[11][1] For a fashion model German took the English form Model in the early 1980s, and Modell has also been used as a euphemism for a prostitute.[10][3] The verb modellieren “to shape” is recorded in 1739, after Italian modellare.[10][3]

German Modell was borrowed into Hungarian modell (1789) and into Swedish modell.[12][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old High German modul is used by Notker.[8][9]
  • 3rd quarter of the 13th century – Middle High German model “measure, form, pattern” appears in the Jüngerer Titurel.[13]
  • 1610 – Modell is used by Philipp Hainhofer.[4]
  • 1739 – modellieren is recorded.[10]
  • 1755 – Winckelmann uses the word for a person who poses for an artist.[4]
  • Early 1980s – English model is taken over for a fashion model.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A model, a reproduction of an object, usually on a smaller scale: Er baut das Modell eines Segelschiffs.[11][1]
  2. (technology, art) A pattern from which a mould for casting is made.[11]
  3. (science) A simplified representation of the structure or workings of something: ein Modell des Klimasystems.[11][1]
  4. A person or thing that serves as the subject of an artist or photographer: Sie saß dem Bildhauer Modell.[11][1]
  5. A type or version of a manufactured product: Das neue Modell ist sparsamer.[11]
  6. (fashion) A one-off garment from a fashion house.[11]
  7. A pattern, an example to follow: Das Projekt gilt als Modell für andere Städte.[11]

Word family

  • modellieren
  • modeln
  • Modellbau
  • Fotomodell
  • Model
  • Modus
  • Modul

Usage notes

Modell stehen or sitzen is to pose for an artist.[11] Ein auslaufendes Modell is a product that is being discontinued, and, colloquially, a person whose career is ending.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 629
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 e f 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
  5. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 569
  6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  7. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 2439
  8. ^ a b Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 6, 529
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling