evangelisch

Forms

evangelisch (strong nominative masculine singular evangelischer, comparative evangelischer, superlative am evangelischsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ēwangēlisch, inherited from Old High German evangēlisc, borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin euangelicus (“of the gospel”), from Ancient Greek εὐαγγελικός (euangelikós), an adjective of εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion, “good news, gospel”).^[2][3][4] The Greek noun is formed from εὐάγγελος (euángelos, “bringing good news”), from εὖ (eû, “well”) and ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger”).^[5][2] The noun reached Old High German as evangēlio, and Gothic has 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌴𐌻𐌾𐍉 (aiwaggeljo).^[2][5] The older German forms were adapted to German sounds, and learned influence restored the Latin form in Early New High German.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German evangēlisc appears in the Murbacher Hymnen (810–817), in a line about the voice of the gospel, and in an 11th-century text on Christ's preaching to the heathens.^[7][8] It meant “of the gospel, according to the gospel”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Late Middle High German ēwangēlisch meant “of the gospel”, and also “Christian, devout”.^[2][9] Luther first used the word in this sense too, but for him the gospel was the whole Bible as the only basis of faith; from 1520 he applied it to his own teaching, and in the 1520s it became the name of the Lutheran confession.^[2][10][5] In the struggles of the Reformation both sides claimed it as a slogan for the true faith.^[11] Today it means “Protestant”, as opposed to katholisch, while the older sense “of the gospel” survives in theology, as in die evangelischen Räte, the counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience.^[3][12][8]

Timeline

• 810–817 – Old High German evangēlisc in the Murbacher Hymnen.^[7]
• 1343 – Middle High German ēwangēlisch.^[9]
• 1520 – Luther applies the word to his own teaching.^[10][4]
• 1520s – It becomes the name of the Lutheran confession.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Protestant: belonging to the churches that came out of the Reformation, especially the Lutheran and Reformed churches.^[3][1]
2. (Christianity) Of or according to the gospel.^[3][1]

Word family

• Evangelische
• evangelisch-lutherisch

Related words

• Evangelium
• Evangelist
• Evangeliar
• Engel

Usage notes

The abbreviation is ev.^[3] The pronunciation with /f/ is a common variant beside /v/;^[1][5] Kluge notes that the confessional sense was at first pronounced with ew-.^[1][5]

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 Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
5. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 264
6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b 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, 2450
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
12. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag