einzeln

Forms

einzeln (strong nominative masculine singular einzelner, not comparable)^[1] The older form without -n, einzel, was still frequent in Lessing, while einzeln already prevailed in the 18th century.^[2] The Grimms' revised dictionary dates the dominance of the n-form to about 1750; forms without -n after 1850 are only dialectal or poetic.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German einzel, a further formation from einez (“single”), Old High German einaz (“single”), which was formed from the numeral ein with a Germanic suffix in /t/.^[4][5][6] The EWA reconstructs the Old High German adjective einezzi as a stem *ainatja-, and compares the adverbs formed with a dental in Lithuanian vienàt (“only”).^[7] Kluge suspects that a reading as “one number” also influenced the word, and the Grimms' revised dictionary records early modern spellings such as ⟨einzal⟩ and ⟨einzehle⟩ that rest on this false link with Zahl.^[4][3]

The final ⟨n⟩ is explained in more than one way.^[4][3] Kluge and Pfeifer derive it from the adverb, an old dative plural form (Middle High German ēnzelen in Central German), supported by the inflected cases of the adjective, as in albern.^[4][5][2] Jacob Grimm thought of a fuller medieval form ending in ⟨-în⟩,^[8] and the revised dictionary points to early attributive forms with ⟨n⟩ (“das enzilne volk”, 1421) that suggest the suffixes ⟨-il-⟩ and ⟨-ilîn⟩ existed side by side.^[3] Compounds keep the form without ⟨n⟩: Einzelheit, Einzelfall, and the noun Einzel in tennis.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the word to the 10th century.^[4] Old High German einezzi is found only in Notker, meaning “single, one after another”, as in einzên mâlen “again and again”.^[7] Pfeifer considers that a misspelt adverb einzelēn may already be Old High German, of the 9th or 10th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German einzel meant “single, individual”, and its dative ênzelen was used as an adverb “one by one”.^[9] Paul notes that einzel also had the senses “simple” and “only”, and Adelung still records the strict sense “existing only once” (as einzig) as Upper German.^[2][10] Luther used both einzel and the uninflected einzelen.^[5][8]

Compounds with Einzel- became numerous: Pfeifer credits Campe with coining Einzelwesen in 1791 as a German word for Latin individuum, while Paul dates Campe's coinage to 1794 and says Jean Paul made it current.^[5][2] Einzelgänger was first a hunters' word for an old boar living apart from the herd, then a loner.^[2]

Timeline

• 10th century – First record of the word.^[4]
• c. 1000 – Notker uses einezzi “single, successive”.^[7]
• 1421 – Johannes Rothe writes das enzilne volk.^[3]
• 16th century – Luther uses einzelen beside einzel.^[5][8]
• 1691 – Stieler explains einzel as perhaps a compound of ein and Zahl.^[3]
• c. 1750 – The form einzeln becomes dominant.^[3]
• 1791 – Campe coins Einzelwesen for “individual”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Single, separate, on its own, not together with others; as a noun der/die Einzelne “the individual”, and im Einzelnen “in detail”.^[11][1]
2. Some, a few, occasional: einzelne Gewitter “scattered thunderstorms”.^[11][1]

Adverb

1. Singly, individually, one by one.^[1][11]

Word family

• Einzel
• Einzelheit
• vereinzeln
• vereinzelt
• Einzelwesen
• Einzelgänger
• Einzelhandel

Related words

• einzig
• ein

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 7, 1150
4. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 237
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 246
7. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 2, 996
8. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 351
9. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 532
10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1763
11. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag