Spieler

Forms

Spieler m (genitive Spielers, plural Spieler)^[1] The feminine is Spielerin.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German spilære, inherited from Old High German spilāri (“drummer, dancer, actor, player”), a noun of agent from Old High German spil + -āri or from the verb spilōn (“to play”) (see Spiel and spielen).^[3][4][1] The Grimms note that the formation is found only on the Continent: Middle Low German speler and Middle Dutch spēler.^[5]

The base noun is spil, Proto-West Germanic *spila-, found only in continental West Germanic; the Scandinavian forms and Old English spilian are borrowings.^[3][6] Its origin is unknown; its first sense seems to have been “dance, dancing movement”.^[6][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German spilāri appears in glosses of the third quarter of the 9th century, rendering Latin tympanista “drummer”, histrio and satyrus.^[4][5] Köbler gives its senses as player, actor, wrestler, competitor and musician.^[4] Middle High German spilære is recorded from 1233–1267, chiefly for a dice player or gambler.^[8][1]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms describe Spieler as someone who plays, habitually or on a single occasion, with the particular game made clear by context or by a compound, as in Schauspieler, Brettspieler and Taschenspieler “conjurer”.^[5][2] Used of musicians and actors in Early New High German, it was later restricted to actors, while musicians were called Spielleute or Musikanten.^[5][2] Without a further qualification it meant a gambler: Adelung defines the Spieler as someone for whom playing for money has become a passion.^[2][5]

In card games the Spieler is the one who plays a hand, as opposed to one who passes.^[2] The modern usual sense, a member of a team in a ball game, is the Grimms' rare sense of ball and parlour games.^[5][1] English borrowed spieler in 1859 in the sense “swindler”.^[9]

Timeline

• Third quarter of the 9th century – Old High German spilāri in glosses.^[4]
• 1233–1267 – Middle High German spilære is recorded.^[8]
• 1793 – Adelung defines the gambler as the Spieler proper.^[2]
• 1859 – English spieler “swindler” is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A player taking part in a game or a sport, especially a member of a team.^[1][10]
2. A gambler, someone addicted to games of chance.^[1][10]
3. (less common) Someone who plays a musical instrument.^[1][10]
4. (rare) Short for Schauspieler, an actor.^[1]

Word family

• Spielerin
• spielerisch
• Gegenspieler
• Mitspieler
• Fußballspieler
• Schauspieler
• Glücksspieler

Related words

• Spiel
• spielen
• Spielmann

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
2. ^ a b c d e f Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
3. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c d e f Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 2388
6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 867
7. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 801
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
10. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org