Titel

Forms

Titel m (genitive Titels, plural Titel)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German titel, inherited from Old High German titul, borrowed from Latin titulus (“inscription, heading, title”), borrowed in the 8th century.^[2][3][4] Old High German also had a feminine titula.^[3][5] The origin of the Latin word is unclear.^[2][4] Köbler cites Walde and Hofmann for a probable Etruscan influence on it.^[6] Pfeifer thinks Old French title may also have played a part.^[3]

The same Latin word gave French titre, Italian titolo and English title, and Dutch titel, Swedish titel and Icelandic titill are parallel loans.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German titula appears in glosses at the end of the 8th century, meaning a stroke, a dot or a heading, and titul in the Tatian (about 830) for the inscription on the cross of Christ: inti screib titul Pîlâtus, “and Pilate wrote a title”.^[7][3][5][8]

Semantic evolution

From the inscription on the cross the word passed to the inscription on a grave or a column, a use Adelung found obsolete in the 1780s, and to the heading of a book (about 1400) or of a section of one.^[9] In Luther's Bible Titel is still the smallest stroke of the written law (Matthew 5:18), a sense Adelung knew only from writing masters, often spelled Tüttel.^[10]

From Early New High German on, Titel was also a legal claim or right, still kept in Rechtstitel, and a name added to a person's name to show rank or office: Simon Roth (1571) has ein Ehr Tittel.^[9][3] Like Name it was often used scornfully of empty show.^[9] In public finance it came to mean an item of a budget, and in the early 20th century a section of a code of law, as in the German Civil Code.^[9] Today it also names a title won in sport and, by metonymy, a book or record on sale.^[9][11]

Timeline

• Late 8th century – Old High German titula appears in glosses.^[7]
• c. 830 – The Tatian uses titul for the inscription on the cross.^[7][5]
• c. 1293 – Middle High German titel appears in the Martina.^[6]
• 1349 – titulieren is recorded.^[9]
• c. 1400 – Titel is used for the title of a book.^[9]
• 1571 – Simon Roth uses Ehr Tittel for a title of honour.^[9]
• First half of the 17th century – betiteln appears.^[3]
• Early 20th century – Titel names a section of a statute.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A title showing someone's rank, office or dignity, often put before the name: Er führt den Titel Professor.^[11][1]
2. A title won in a sports competition: Die Mannschaft verteidigte ihren Titel.^[11][12]
3. The name of a book, piece of writing or work of art: Der Film läuft unter einem anderen Titel.^[11][12]
4. A work published under a title, as a book or record: Der Verlag bringt im Herbst zwanzig neue Titel heraus.^[11]
5. Short for Titelblatt, the title page.^[11]
6. (law) A section of a statute or contract.^[11][12]
7. (economics) A group of items in a budget.^[11]
8. (law) A legal claim, and a judgment or other instrument on which enforcement can be based.^[11][12]

Word family

• titulieren
• betiteln
• Titulatur
• Untertitel
• Titelblatt
• Titelei
• Rechtstitel

Related words

• Tilde
• English title

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 918
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 860
5. ^ 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. 21, 522
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 332
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org