Etymology and origin of the German word Veröffentlichung
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 19th century
- Ultimate origins
- German (ver-,-en,-ung)Middle High German (offenlich)
Etymology tree
Forms
Veröffentlichung f (genitive Veröffentlichung, plural Veröffentlichungen)[1]
Etymology
It is formed from German veröffentlichen + -ung.[1][2] The verb veröffentlichen was made in the 19th century from ver- and öffentlich, as a German replacement for publizieren, and the noun replaced Publikation in the same way.[3][4][5] The adjective is inherited from Middle High German offenlich, inherited from Old High German offanlīh, from offen.[4][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Pfeifer dates the noun, like the verb, to the 19th century.[5][2] The verb was still missing from Campe (1811), Heinsius (1822) and Kaltschmidt (1834); the Grimms' dictionary's first record is from 1840, and Sanders entered both the verb and the noun in 1865.[6][3]
Semantic evolution
The noun names both the act of making something public, an official announcement or the publishing of a text, and the published work itself.[5][7] The Duden dictionary gives Publikation as its synonym in both senses.[7] Wiktionary also gives the sense “release”.[1]
Timeline
- 1840 – First record of the verb veröffentlichen in the Grimms' dictionary.[6]
- 19th century – Veröffentlichung “public announcement, publication”.[5]
- 1865 – Sanders records the verb and the noun.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- publication, the act of making something public or publishing it: Die Veröffentlichung der Wahlergebnisse verzögerte sich.[7][1]
- A published work, a publication: Ihre jüngste Veröffentlichung ist ein Buch über Moose.[7][2]
- A release of a record, film or software.[1]
Related words
- veröffentlichen
- öffentlich
- Öffentlichkeit
- Publikation
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
- ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 666
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 25, 951
- ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Veröffentlichung.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/de/Ver%C3%B6ffentlichung. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
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