Etymologically
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Regierung

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Pronunciation

  • /reˈɡiːrʊŋ/, [ʁeˈɡiː.ʁʊŋ], [ʁə-][1]

Forms

Regierung f (genitive Regierung, plural Regierungen)[1]

Etymology

It is from German regieren + -ung, first recorded in late Middle High German as regierunge.[2][3][4][1] Pfeifer dates the noun to the middle of the 15th century.[5]

The verb is Middle High German regieren (“to rule”), recorded from the 13th century.[6] Kluge derives it from Old French reger, itself from Latin regere (“to direct, guide”);[6][5][3] Pfeifer allows a borrowing either from regir or straight from the Latin verb, and the Duden speaks of a Latin word taken over under the influence of the French one.[6][5][3] A Middle High German and early modern variant regnieren (until the 16th century) goes back to regner or rēgnāre (“to be king, reign”).[5] The Latin verb belongs to the same Indo-European family as recht.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record listed by Köbler is in the Middle High German Pilgerfahrt (about 1390), with the sense “rule”.[4] In Early New High German it meant the exercise of power, especially by a single noble ruler such as a duke, king or emperor, and by metonymy the period of a reign; it also meant leadership or control in general, and a rule or regulation.[7]

Semantic evolution

From the act of ruling the word passed to the body that rules: Early New High German already uses it for an institutional council that carries out the tasks of government.[7] Adelung, around 1800, still gives it wide senses, from steering a cart to God's governance of all things, before its narrowest use for the exercise of power in a state.[8] Today the main sense is the supreme executive organ of a state and the people who form it.[2] In Bavaria a Regierung is also an administrative authority at the middle level, between the state and the districts.[9]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Middle High German regieren is recorded.[6]
  • c. 1390 – regierunge in the Pilgerfahrt.[4]
  • mid-15th century – Pfeifer's date for the noun.[5]
  • 16th century – The variant regnieren of the verb goes out of use.[5]
  • 1793 – Adelung records the senses from steering to governing a state.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of governing, the exercise of power in a state, a reign: während seiner Regierung blühte der Handel.[2][1]
  2. A government, the supreme organ of a state and the people who make it up: die Regierung ist zurückgetreten.[2][1]
  3. (Bavaria) An administrative authority at the middle level of the state.[9]

Word family

  • Regierungspräsident

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  3. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 754
  7. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  9. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org