Etymologically
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Osten

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɔstən/, /ˈɔstn̩/[1]

Forms

Osten m (genitive Ostens, no plural)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ōsten, inherited from Old High German ōstan, a noun made from the adverb of direction ōstana (“from the east”).[2][3][4] The adverb is matched by Old Saxon ōstana (“in, from the east”), Old English ēastan (“from the east”) and Old Norse austan (“from the east”).[2][3]

The Germanic stem, Proto-Germanic *austrą (“east”) in Wiktionary's form, is connected with the Indo-European word for the dawn, Proto-Indo-European *ausōs (“dawn”), found in Sanskrit उषस् (uṣás, “dawn”), Latin aurōra (“dawn”), Ancient Greek ἠώς (ēṓs, “dawn”) and Lithuanian aušra (“dawn”), so the east is the quarter of the dawn.[2][3][4][1] The sense “east” is also in Avestan ušastara- (“eastern”), Latvian austrums (“east”) and probably originally in Latin auster (“south wind”), which Kluge explains by a re-orientation in which the direction taken as “front” shifted from sunrise to the noon sun.[2][3] Duden and Kluge also connect Ostern with this group.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb ōstana “from the east” is recorded in a charter of 827, and in Tatian and Otfrid.[5][6] The noun ōstan “east” appears about 1000 in Notker, and as ostanonti already in the 8th century.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the direction of sunrise, Osten came to mean the eastern lands, the Orient: Goethe's West-östlicher Divan urges the reader to flee to the “pure East”.[7][8] The shorter Ost was formed in the 15th century on the model of Nord and Süd, and meant the east wind from the 17th century; it is still usual among seamen.[3][4][8] The older adverb ōstar (“in the east, eastward”) survives in the name Österreich.[4]

After the Second World War der Osten meant the Communist countries of eastern Europe and Asia, and in Germany the Soviet zone and the GDR: hence Ostblock, Ostzone and the Ost-West-Konflikt.[8][9] Since 1989 Ossi has been a mocking name for an East German, and Ostalgie, a blend of Ostdeutschland and Nostalgie, was the name of a cabaret series in 1992.[8] English borrowed the phrase Drang nach Osten in 1906.[10]

Timeline

  • 8th century – The form ostanonti is recorded.[2]
  • 827 – The adverb ōstana appears in a charter.[5]
  • About 1000 – Notker uses the noun ōstan.[5]
  • 1440 – First record of the short form ost.[8]
  • 17th century – Ost also means “east wind”.[3]
  • 1906 – First English record of Drang nach Osten.[10]
  • 1992 – Ostalgie becomes the name of a cabaret series.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. east, the direction in which the sun rises: Das Schlafzimmer liegt nach Osten.[9][1]
  2. The eastern part of an area: im Osten der Stadt.[9]
  3. The countries of eastern Europe and Asia, the Orient: der Ferne Osten, der Nahe Osten.[9][1]
  4. (historical) The socialist countries, the Eastern Bloc; with the article, the territory of the former GDR.[9][1]

Word family

  • östlich
  • Ost
  • Ostwind
  • Ostsee
  • Osteuropa
  • Ostblock
  • Österreich
  • Ostern
  • English east

Usage notes

In radio communication the word is sometimes pronounced with a long vowel, [ˈoːstn̩], to avoid confusion.[9] Some north German writers made it neuter, das Osten, after Dutch.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 674
  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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 602
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 246
  7. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 1370
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de