Turnier

Forms

Turnier n (genitive Turniers or Turnieres, plural Turniere)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German turnier, turnîr, a back-formation from the verb turnieren (“to wheel one's horse; to take part in a tournament”), which is borrowed from Old French tornier (“to turn; to fight in a tournament”).^[2][3][4][5] The noun formed in German replaced the older loan turnei, tornei, taken from Old French tornoi (“fight, tournament; turn”), from the 14th century on.^[2][3][5]

The Old French verb (beside Medieval Latin torneō (“to fight in a tournament”)) comes from torner (“to turn”), Latin tornō (“to round off, turn on a lathe”), which is from Ancient Greek τορνεύω (torneúō, “to turn, work on a lathe”), from τόρνος (tórnos, “compasses, lathe chisel”).^[2][3][1] Kluge connects that noun with τείρω (teírō, “to rub”).^[2] The word thus first meant a “turning”, after the quick wheeling of the horses in the contest.^[2] The same Old French family gave Dutch toernooi and English tournament.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German turnei is recorded from the late 12th century, in Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram and Gottfried's Tristan, for the knights' combat game and sometimes for a real fight.^[3][6][7] The form turnier is found from the 14th century: do ward ain turnier genomen gegen Zürich (1360, “then a tournament was held against Zürich”).^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The tournament was a festive combat game held at court, in which knights, usually on horseback and with blunted weapons, tried their fighting skills.^[5][9] Early New High German spelled the word in many ways (turner, thurnier, tornier), and it was masculine as well as neuter until the 18th century, when the neuter prevailed.^[10][11] The old form Turnei was revived by Wieland and by poets of the 18th and 19th centuries as a historical word.^[11][3][5]

From the end of the 19th century Turnier was used for any contest with many participants, first recorded in Skat-Turnier (1891), and then especially in sport: riding, tennis, dancing, chess.^[11][3] Figuratively it could also mean a dispute, as in Schubart's dieses gelehrte Turnier (“this learned tournament”).^[11] The word passed into Hungarian as turnír (1572), and Czech and Slovak have turnaj.^[12]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Middle High German turnei is recorded.^[3][6]
• 14th century – The back-formation turnier replaces turnei.^[2][3]
• 1360 – Ain turnier is held against Zürich.^[5]
• 1572 – Hungarian turnír “knightly combat” is recorded.^[12]
• 18th century – The masculine gender goes out of use.^[10]
• 1891 – Skat-Turnier shows the general sense “competition”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A tournament of the Middle Ages: a festive event at which knights fought one another in mock combat.^[9][13][1]
2. A sporting competition held over some time, in which a winner is found from many players or teams through a series of matches: ein Turnier im Schach austragen.^[9][13][14]

Word family

• turnieren

Related words

• Tour
• Turnus
• English tournament

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 936
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
5. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 1583
8. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 1584
9. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
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. 22, 1881
11. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
12. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
13. ^ a b Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
14. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org