Etymologically
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Schweizer

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʃvaɪ̯t͡sɐ/[1]

Forms

Schweizer m (genitive Schweizers, plural Schweizer, feminine Schweizerin)[1] The Grimms' dictionary records the older spellings Schweynczer (15th century), Schweitzer and Schweytzer.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German swīzer, first recorded in late Middle High German in the 14th century.[3][4][5] It is formed from German Schweiz + -er, and the country is named after the canton of Schwyz.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Late Middle High German swīzer named an inhabitant of the Swiss Confederation, or someone who had come from there.[3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

Because Swiss men were known abroad for certain occupations, the name was transferred to those occupations.[3][1] Above all they served in foreign armies, and as bodyguards and doorkeepers of great houses;[2][6] Adelung explains that courts liked to choose Swiss for their loyalty and stature, so that the word came to mean such guards and doormen of any origin.[2][6] Paul dates the sense “doorkeeper” from the 16th to the 19th century; today it survives only for the papal guard, the Schweizergarde.[7][3]

From the 17th century a Schweizer was also a man who looked after cows, and in 19th-century farming a trained milker, since such specialists first came from Switzerland.[3][7][8] In Catholic churches of some regions it names the sacristan, after the likeness of his dress to that of the Swiss Guard.[8][1] The compound Schweizerdegen meant a two-edged weapon of the Swiss mercenaries around 1600, and after about 1740 a printer who is both compositor and pressman.[7]

The doorkeeper sense was borrowed into Polish as szwajcar (“doorman, caretaker”), recorded in 1633, and into Russian as швейцар (švejcar, “doorman”).[9][1]

Timeline

  • 14th century – Late Middle High German swīzer is recorded.[3]
  • 15th century – The spelling Schweynczer is recorded.[2]
  • 16th century – First use for a doorkeeper.[3][7]
  • c. 1600 – The Schweizerdegen, a sword of the Swiss mercenaries.[7]
  • 1633 – Polish szwajcar “doorman” is recorded.[9]
  • 17th century – First use for a man who tends cows.[3]
  • c. 1740 – Schweizerdegen comes to mean a printer who both sets and prints.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A Swiss man; a native or citizen of Switzerland.[8][1]
  2. (agriculture) A trained milker.[8][1]
  3. (regional) A sacristan in Catholic churches.[8][1]
  4. A member of the papal Swiss Guard.[8][1]
  5. Short for Schweizer Käse: Swiss cheese.[8]
  6. (dated) A doorman.[1][7]

Adjective

  1. (indeclinable) Swiss, of or from Switzerland: ein Schweizer Taschenmesser.[5][10]

Word family

  • Stallschweizer
  • Schweizerin
  • schweizerisch
  • Schweizergarde
  • Schweizerdegen
  • Schweiz

Usage notes

The adjective is the noun used attributively, like Frankfurter or Thüringer, and does not inflect.[10] Adelung also records Schweizer as the name of a striped American ground squirrel, whose coat recalled the breast-piece of Swiss dress.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 15, 2471
  3. ^ 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. 834
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 1738
  7. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  10. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 15, 2472