bisherig

Forms

bisherig (strong nominative masculine singular bisheriger, not comparable)^[1] Older texts also spell it bißherig.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from German bisher + -ig.^[1][3][2] The adverb is Middle High German bizher (“until now”), from biz (“until”) and her (“hither”), the words that are now bis and her; it was often written separately until the early 17th century.^[4][5] Pfeifer takes biz to have arisen from bī (“by”) and ze (“to”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimm dictionary has a first example in 1627, in a diary whose writer says that after drinking a brandy he carefully recorded bisherigen verlauf, the course of events so far.^[2] The adverb bizher itself goes back to about 1150, in Lamprecht's Alexander.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same: what has existed or been the case up to now.^[2][7] Stieler records bisherige zeit “the time until now”, and Wieland writes of ihr bisheriger schlummer “their slumber so far”.^[8] In political language it names an office holder who is about to be replaced, as in Stein's reforms of 1808, which dissolved die bisherigen so isolierten behörden, the authorities kept so separate until then.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – The adverb bizher in Lamprecht's Alexander.^[4]
• 1627 – First record of bisherig.^[2]
• 1683 – Christian Weise writes bißherigen freundschafft.^[2]
• 1808 – The papers of Stein's reform ministry use die bisherigen behörden.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Previous, former; holding a position until now: Der bisherige Trainer wechselt zu einem Verein in Spanien.^[9][1]
2. Existing or happening up to now, so far: Die bisherigen Ergebnisse sind ermutigend.^[9][1]

Related words

• bislang

Usage notes

It is used only before a noun.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 5, 301
3. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c 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. 5, 300
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
8. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 46
9. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag