Etymologically
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Partei

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Pronunciation

  • /parˈtaɪ̯/, [paʁˈtaɪ̯], [pa(ɐ̯)ˈtaɪ̯][1]

Forms

Partei f (genitive Partei, plural Parteien)[1] It was earlier spelled partey, parthei or parthey.[2] Alemannic, Central and Low German texts kept the older form partie, partige.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German partīe, borrowed from Old French partie (“part, side, party”), the noun use of the feminine past participle of partir (“to divide”), from Latin partior (“to divide, share”), from pars (“part”).[4][5][6] Middle Low German partīe is found as well.[5]

In Early New High German the long /iː/ regularly became a diphthong, giving the modern form.[7] Partie, the same French word, was borrowed again in the 17th century, and the two forms were used side by side for a long time;[7][6] Paul thinks French parti (“match, party”) also had an influence.[7][6] The same word is Dutch partij and English party.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German partīe is first found in a charter of 1278, meaning “division, group of people”.[8][4] In the early language it named an independent part of a larger whole, such as a side in a lawsuit or in a quarrel.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century the word named each side in negotiations or a legal case, and, first in the Lower Rhine area, a group sharing a home, the household that is now a Mietpartei.[5] From the 16th century it was used for a political or religious group that set itself apart, and in 17th-century military language for a small raiding band, as in Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus.[5][7] Partei nehmen or ergreifen “to take sides” are old fixed phrases.[3][7]

In the political struggles of the 19th century, especially over German unity, Partei usually had a bad sound: Kluge notes that parliaments preferred Fraktion and others Verein, although Lassalle, who founded the General German Workers' Association in 1863, spoke of a workers' party.[4] The modern notion of a political party formed only in the 20th century, especially after the First World War, partly under English and French influence.[4] In a one-party state, die Partei was the ruling party, the NSDAP or the SED.[1][9] German Partei was borrowed into Czech and Slovak as partaj.[10]

Timeline

  • 1278 – Middle High German partīe in a charter.[8]
  • 15th century – Used of the parties in a lawsuit or contract, and of a household.[5]
  • 16th century – Used of a political or religious group.[5]
  • 17th century – Partie is borrowed again from French;[7][5] Partei also names a raiding band.[7][5]
  • 1863 – Lassalle speaks of an Arbeiterpartei.[4]
  • After 1918 – The modern concept of a party takes shape.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A political party, an organization of people with shared political aims and a programme.[9][1]
  2. Die Partei: the single ruling party of a one-party state.[9][1]
  3. (law) Either side in a lawsuit, or a party to a contract.[9][1]
  4. A household renting in a building, short for Mietpartei.[9][11]
  5. A group or side holding one view against another;[9][7] Partei ergreifen “to take sides”.[9][7]
  6. A team playing against another.[12]

Word family

  • parteiisch
  • unparteiisch
  • parteilich
  • parteilos
  • Parteitag

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 1466
  3. ^ a b 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 685
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  11. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  12. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de