Etymologically
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Titel

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈtiːtl/, /ˈtɪtl/[1]

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

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