aktuell

Forms

aktuell (strong nominative masculine singular aktueller, comparative aktueller, superlative am aktuellsten)^[1] It was spelled actuell until the beginning of the 20th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French actuel (“real, present, effective”),^[2][4][5] from Late Latin āctuālis (“active, effective”), formed from āctus (“a doing, act”), from agō (“to drive, do”).^[2][4][3] The same word is Dutch actueel and English actual.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was borrowed in the early 18th century as a learned and philosophical word meaning “real, actual”, as opposed to “potential” or “imagined”.^[5][4] The first record is eine actuelle und keine eingebildete Kranckheit (“a real and not an imagined illness”) in Sperander's dictionary of fashionable words (1727).^[5][6][3]

Semantic evolution

Kluge describes the development as going from “real” through “real at present” to “important at the present moment”, with the newspapers of the 19th century playing a large part.^[2] The sense “present, current” is found in dictionaries from about 1801 (Campe);^[6][5] it was rare in the 18th century, and Goethe does not use the word.^[6] In the second half of the 19th century it became a fashionable word of the press, meaning “topical, up to date”,^[4][6] and it is now also used for “fashionable, in vogue”.^[6][7] The noun Aktualität was taken from French actualité in the 19th century (Kaltschmidt, 1843), and aktualisieren is recorded from 1856.^[4][6][8]

Timeline

• 1727 – First record, in the sense “real”.^[5][6]
• c. 1801 – Dictionaries record the sense “present, current”.^[6]
• 1843 – Aktualität is recorded.^[6]
• 1856 – aktualisieren is recorded.^[6]
• Second half of the 19th century – It becomes a newspaper word for “topical”.^[4]
• Early 20th century – The spelling with ⟨k⟩ replaces actuell.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. topical, of present interest, relevant to the immediate present: ein aktuelles Problem.^[7][9]
2. current, present; up to date: the current price list, the latest edition.^[1][10]
3. (fashion, business) The newest, fashionable: Dieses Jahr sind Karos aktuell.^[7]
4. (technical) Actually present, realized (as opposed to potential).^[9][3]

Word family

• Aktualität
• aktualisieren
• Aktualisierung
• hochaktuell
• tagesaktuell

Related words

• Akt
• agieren
• aktiv
• English actual

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 26
3. ^ a b c d Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 2, 180
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e 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 f g h i j 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 110
9. ^ a b Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org