Etymologically
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Rahmen

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʁaːmən/[1]

Forms

Rahmen m (genitive Rahmens, plural Rahmen)[1] The final -n comes from the oblique cases.[2] Old and Middle High German rama, rame were feminine;[3][4] Central German had a weak masculine rame, and Middle Low German only the masculine.[3][4] In the 17th and 18th centuries die Rahme, der Rahme and der Rahm competed (Goethe usually wrote Rahm); der Rahmen became general after Adelung.[3][5][4] Upper German dialects keep the feminine.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German rame (“support, frame”), inherited from Old High German rama (“support, column”).[6][3][2] Related forms are Old Saxon hrama (“rack for torture”), Middle Low German rāme, Middle Dutch rame and Dutch raam (“frame, window”),[2][1] and Old French raime was borrowed from an Old Low Franconian form.[2][3] Wiktionary sets up Proto-West Germanic *hramu (“frame, support”).[1]

Its further origin is uncertain.[3][6] Kluge, Pfeifer and Duden connect it with Rand and Ranft;[6][3][7] Pfeifer and Duden derive it from a root Proto-Indo-European *rem- (“to rest, lean on, support”), also seen in Sanskrit रम्भ (rambhá, “staff, support”) and Lithuanian ram̃tis (“support”).[3][7] Kluge leaves open whether the word began with /hr/.[6] Heinertz and Schüwer start from Proto-Germanic *hramō (“lath frame”) with /hr/, comparing Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌰𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hramjan, “to crucify”), that is “to fix to a frame”, and Old Norse hremma (“to clutch, squeeze”), and link Rumpf as well.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German rama is found from about 1000 in glosses, translating Latin words for a support, a column, a weaving frame and a rack for torture.[3][2] Kluge dates it to the 11th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German ram(e) meant a support, a stand, and a weaving or embroidery frame.[6][8] From the general sense “stand serving as a support” came many special uses: the frame of a window, a mirror or a painting, and then, figuratively, a boundary or setting, as in im Rahmen der Grundsatzfragen (Strittmatter) and the idiom aus dem Rahmen fallen “to depart from the usual”.[5][7] In the 20th century it also became the frame or chassis of a car or bicycle.[3][9]

The verb rahmen “to frame” is recorded around 1800, by Campe, and einrahmen and umrahmen in the 19th century.[3][5] The German word was borrowed into Hungarian (ráma, 1403), Czech (rám), Romanian and Russian.[10][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old High German rama “support, column” is recorded in glosses.[3][2]
  • Second half of the 12th century – Middle High German ram is used.[8]
  • 1403 – Hungarian ráma “frame”, borrowed from German, is recorded.[10]
  • Late 18th century – Adelung and Campe accept only der Rahmen.[4]
  • c. 1800 – The verb rahmen “to frame” appears.[3]
  • 19th century – einrahmen and umrahmen come into use.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A frame for a picture or similar: ein Foto in einem schlichten Rahmen.[9][1]
  2. The frame of a door or window, to which it is hinged.[9][11]
  3. A frame for stretching cloth or threads; short for Stickrahmen.[9]
  4. (technology) The supporting chassis of a vehicle or machine; short for Fahrradrahmen.[9][11]
  5. A setting that gives an occasion its character: Die alte Scheune bot der Hochzeit einen festlichen Rahmen.[9]
  6. scope, limits: im Rahmen des Möglichen, within the bounds of what is possible.[9][1]
  7. (literature) A frame story that encloses other stories; see Rahmenerzählung.[9][11]

Word family

  • rahmen
  • einrahmen
  • umrahmen
  • Bilderrahmen
  • Stickrahmen
  • Rahmenerzählung
  • Rand
  • Ranft
  • Rumpf
  • Dutch raam

Usage notes

Aus dem Rahmen fallen is to depart markedly from what is usual or expected, and nicht in den Rahmen passen is to be out of place.[9][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 162
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 14, 64
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 743
  7. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  11. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org