Etymologically
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endlich

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈɛntlɪç/[1]

Forms

endlich (strong nominative masculine singular endlicher, not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German endelich, formed from German Ende + -lich.[2][1][3] The same formation is Middle Low German endelik, Middle Dutch endelijc and Dutch eindelijk.[2] Middle High German usually made the adverb as endelîchen, a form found here and there until the later 18th century.[2] The opposite unendlich is recorded earlier, as Notker's Old High German unentlîch before 1022.[2]

The noun Ende is enti, from Proto-Germanic *andijaz (“end”), also in Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃 (andeis) and Old English ende.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In König Rother (1150/60) endeliche means “quickly”, and the earliest senses of the word are “quick, active, diligent, persistent”.[2][6] Early New High German still used it so: in Till Eulenspiegel a man was endlich, quick to act, and Luther calls the Swiss endlich und hurtig.[7]

Semantic evolution

Next to this, the word meant “certain, fixed” and “definitive, final”, especially in law: the Carolina of 1532 speaks of an endlich sentence.[2][8] The adverb came to mean “in the end, at last”, and then “at last” of something long awaited or feared, as in the Nibelungenlied (about 1220) and Luther's Bible.[2][8] The active sense was listed as obsolete or little used from the middle of the 18th century.[2]

From the 14th century, in a translation of Thomas Aquinas, the adjective also means “limited, not infinite”, of beings that are mortal; since the late 17th century it has also been used of quantities, especially in mathematics.[2] This is now the main sense of the adjective, while in everyday language endlich is mostly an adverb.[9]

Timeline

  • Before 1022 – Notker uses the opposite unentlîch.[2]
  • 1150/60 – endeliche “quickly” in König Rother.[2]
  • c. 1220 – The Nibelungenlied uses the adverb for “in the end”.[2]
  • 14th century – First record of the sense “finite, limited”.[2]
  • 1532 – The Carolina uses endlich for a final legal decision.[8]
  • 1699 – A German Euclid speaks of an endliche flaͤche, a finite surface.[2]
  • Mid-18th century – The sense “quick, diligent” is listed as obsolete.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. At last, finally: after a long wait or delay: Der Zug ist endlich angekommen.;[9][1] Na endlich! (colloquial) “about time!”.[9][1]
  2. In the end, eventually: Am Ende mussten wir endlich einsehen, dass es nicht ging.[9][3]

Adjective

  1. (technical) finite: limited in space, time or number: eine endliche Menge.[9][1]

Word family

  • unendlich
  • Endlichkeit

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. 8, 1302
  3. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 245
  5. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 462
  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, 464
  9. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag