Etymologically
Log in

Thema

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 17:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

Thema n (genitive Themas, plural Themen or (elevated) Themata or (music, rare) Themas, diminutive Themchen n or Themachen n)[1] The Latin plural Themata is the older one;[2][1] Latin inflection was used until the 19th century, and in the 16th century a short form Them is also found.[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German thema, borrowed from Latin thema (“proposition, subject”), from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma, “something laid down, proposition”), a noun to τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, set, place”).[3][4][2][1] The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch gives Medieval Latin thema (“preface; matter, subject”) as the immediate source, and notes that the Latin word also meant a horoscope; in Greek the word was used for a thesis set for declamation and for the stem of a word.[2] The Greek verb is related to tun.[5]

The sources date the borrowing differently: Kluge and the Duden to the 15th century, Pfeifer to the 14th, and Köbler records it in Tauler before 1350.[3][5][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Late Middle High German thema is used by Tauler before 1350.[6] In 1414 a chronicle reports a bishop's sermon: und was das sin thema: Erit magnus coram domino “and this was his text: He shall be great in the sight of the Lord”.[2] The first sense was a text or saying set for development, especially the Bible verse on which a sermon is based.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

From the 18th century the word was used more widely for the subject or leading idea of a text, a conversation or a work of art;[7][2] Heine writes of undankbare Themata (1837).[7][2] In music it names the melody on which a work or its variations are built.[7][4] In linguistics it names the part of a sentence that conveys what is already known, as opposed to the Rhema.[8][9]

The derivatives thematisch and Thematik are recorded in the 19th century, Thematisierung in 1935 and thematisieren in 1965.[4][7] Hungarian borrowed téma in 1790 and tematika in 1915.[10]

Timeline

  • Before 1350 – Middle High German thema is used by Tauler.[6]
  • 1414 – thema names the text of a sermon.[2]
  • 16th century – The short form Them appears.[2]
  • 18th century – The general sense “subject, leading idea” spreads.[7]
  • 1790 – Hungarian téma is recorded.[10]
  • 19th century – thematisch and Thematik appear.[4]
  • 1965 – thematisieren is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A topic or subject of a study, work or conversation: das Thema wechseln.[9][1]
  2. (colloquial) In kein Thema: no problem, that goes without saying.[9]
  3. (music) A theme, the melody that forms the main idea of a composition.[9][1]
  4. (linguistics) The part of a sentence that conveys known information, as opposed to the Rhema.[9][8]
  5. (grammar, archaic) The stem of an inflected word.[1]

Word family

  • thematisch
  • Thematik
  • thematisieren

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  3. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 915
  4. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 858
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  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 Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b c d e 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