Union

Forms

Union f (genitive Union, plural Unionen)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin ūniō (“unity, union”), borrowed in the first half of the 16th century,^[2][3][4] according to the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch from an inflected form of the Latin noun.^[5] The Latin noun was formed from ūnus (“one”), which is related to German ein.^[4][3] Wiktionary derives the German word by way of French union.^[1] The same word is Dutch unie, English union and Swedish union.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of 1522, lists vnion among the church practices, beside the commendams and reservations, that curtailed the ordinary jurisdiction of the bishops.^[5]

Semantic evolution

At first the word was used above all in church matters, as for the union of the Lutheran and Reformed confessions (1717).^[6] It then became mainly political, for a union of states based on a treaty: Personalunion named states joined only through the person of one monarch, and Realunion states united under one ruler with common institutions.^[6][5] Today it lives on chiefly in names, such as the Christlich-Demokratische Union, the Christlich-Soziale Union, the Junge Union and the Montanunion.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1522 – First record of vnion, in church matters.^[5]
• 1717 – Union is used of the union of Lutheran and Reformed churches.^[6]
• 1871 – Daniel Sanders records Personalunion and Realunion.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A union, alliance or association, especially of states, or of churches of related confessions: Die beiden Länder schlossen sich zu einer Union zusammen.^[7][8]
2. die Union (colloquial): the CDU and CSU, the two Christian democratic parties of Germany, taken together.^[7][1]

Word family

• Personalunion
• Realunion
• Montanunion

Related words

• Unikum
• Uniform
• Universität
• ein
• English union

Usage notes

The phrase Junge Union names the common youth organisation of the CDU and CSU.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 942
3. ^ a b 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. 888
5. ^ a b c d 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 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
7. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag