Etymologically
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beispielsweise

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbaɪ̯ʃpiːlsˌvaɪ̯zə/[1]

Forms

beispielsweise[1]

Etymology

It is formed from German Beispiel + -weise, with the linking -s-.[1][2] It grew out of 15th- and 16th-century phrases in which the preposition in governed the genitive of the noun followed by Weise, “in the manner of an example”.[3][4][5]

The noun goes back to Middle High German bīspel and Old Dutch bīspil (“parable, saying”), like Old English bīspell a compound of bei and Proto-Germanic *spellą (“tale, story”), “that which is told beside”.[6][4] That Germanic word survives in Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻 (spill, “tale, fable”), Old Norse spjall, Old High German spel (“speech, story”) and English spell; in late Middle High German its vowel was assimilated to Spiel, as in Kirchspiel.[6][4][7] The sense “model, instance” comes from Latin exemplum,[6][4] and zum Beispiel was modelled on French par exemple.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The phrase in peispil weis is used in the 15th century by Hans Folz, and in beispils weiss in 1515.[3] It became an adverb meaning “as, for example” at the end of the 17th century: Goldmann's book on architecture of 1696 still writes beyspiels weise separately.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The adverb remained rare until the 19th century.[3] A review of 1772 cites a passage nur beyspielsweise, “only by way of example”, and a Prussian legal text of 1808 notes that certain classes of peasants are listed bloß beispielsweise, merely as examples.[3] In the 20th century it became common in newspapers and prose.[3] Paul counts it among the adverbs in -weise that go back to a genitive governed by in, a preposition later dropped.[5]

Timeline

  • 15th century – Hans Folz uses the phrase in peispil weis.[3][4]
  • 1696 – First record of the adverb, still written as beyspiels weise.[3]
  • 1772 – beyspielsweise is written as one word in a review.[3]
  • 1808 – A Prussian legal text uses bloß beispielsweise.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. For example, for instance; abbreviated bspw.: Manche Vögel, beispielsweise Störche, ziehen im Herbst nach Süden.[8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. 4, 816
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 106
  7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 724
  8. ^ Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag