Etymologically
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diesmal

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Forms

diesmal[1]

Etymology

It is from German dieser (“this”) + Mal (“time”), fused from the syntactic group, with the variant diesesmal.[2][1] The same formation is Middle Low German ditmāl and Dutch ditmaal.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record, after 1420 in Justinger's Berne chronicle, is uf dismale “for this time”; combined with auf or für was the original use and predominated in the 15th and 16th centuries.[2] A Vienna document of 1497 has ditzmal alone, “this time”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German has the variants diesmals and diesmalen “this time, at this point”.[3] Luther's Bible writes dis mal (Exodus 9:14), and the spellings diszmal and dießmal were common before diesmal.[4][2] The prepositional use survives in für diesmal “for now, for this once”.[5][2]

Timeline

  • After 1420 – uf dismale in Justinger's Berne chronicle.[2]
  • 1497 – ditzmal in a Vienna document.[2]
  • 16th century – Luther's Bible writes dis mal.[4]
  • 1809 – Goethe writes dießmal bin ich's in Die Wahlverwandtschaften.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. This time, on this occasion, as opposed to another: Diesmal fahren wir mit dem Rad.;[5][1] für diesmal, for now.[5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. 6, 1036
  3. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  4. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 1143
  5. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag