Moment

Forms

Moment m (genitive Momentes or Moments, plural Momente, diminutive Momentchen n or Momenterl n)^[1] Moment n (genitive Moments, plural Momente): the neuter noun “decisive factor; moment of force”.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German mōmente, a feminine noun, borrowed from Latin mōmentum (“movement; moment”), from moveō (“to move”).^[3][4][5] Pfeifer leaves open whether the Middle High German word came straight from Latin or through Old French moment (“short space of time”).^[5] The masculine gender was taken from French moment when the word was borrowed again in the 17th century.^[3][5][6] In the sense “moving force, decisive factor” it was borrowed separately from Latin in the 17th century, as a neuter.^[3][7][6] The Latin noun goes back to *movimentum and first meant movement, then the extra weight that tips a balance, and hence a decisive moment.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German mōmente “moment, instant” is found around 1254 in Rudolf von Ems's world chronicle.^[4][6] Around 1460 Hans Folz writes in eim momente “in a moment”, and in 1525 Emser explains that momentum means not a whole day but a short while.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Middle High German word went out of use, and in the 17th century the masculine word was taken from French, often doubled as ein Moment und Augenblick.^[9][6] In 1739 Seriander lists it, still pronounced as French, among the foreign words of chancery and commerce, and the French pronunciation lingered into the late 19th century, in Thuringia and Leipzig as der momàng.^[9][5] In the 18th century the sense “point in time” widened to “event, fact”, and Wieland proposed Augenblick as a German replacement.^[6]

The neuter Moment “turning point, decisive weight” was taken from Latin at the end of the 17th century and later weakened to “essential circumstance”; in 1879 Rudolf Hildebrand attacked ein neues Moment as a fashionable phrase.^[6] In physics it names the effect of a force about a point, as in Kant's das Moment ihrer Anspannung (1747) and in Drehmoment.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1254 – Rudolf von Ems uses Middle High German mōmente.^[4]
• c. 1460 – Hans Folz writes in eim momente.^[6]
• 1654 – ein moment und Augenblick shows the masculine word borrowed from French.^[6]
• 1698 – First record of the neuter Moment “decisive factor”.^[6]
• 1739 – Seriander records Moment with French pronunciation.^[9]
• 1747 – Kant uses the neuter in mechanics.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (masculine) A moment, a very short space of time: Warte bitte einen Moment!;^[11][1] im Moment, at present.^[11][1]
2. A point in time: der passende Moment;^[11][1] jeden Moment, at any moment;^[11][1] Moment mal!, wait a minute.^[11][1]
3. (neuter) A decisive factor, circumstance or feature: das erregende Moment, the scene of a play that leads into the conflict.^[2][12]
4. (neuter, physics) A moment, the product of two quantities one of which is usually a force: das Drehmoment.^[2][12]

Word family

• momentan
• Drehmoment

Related words

• English moment
• English momentum

Usage notes

The masculine der Moment “instant” and the neuter das Moment “factor; moment of force” share their Latin source but were borrowed at different times and through different routes.^[3][10] Schiller and Goethe also used the neuter in the time sense.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 631
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
7. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 571
8. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
9. ^ 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, 2482
10. ^ a b c 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org