Etymologically
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gering

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈʁɪŋ/[1]

Forms

gering (strong nominative masculine singular geringer, comparative geringer, superlative am geringsten)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German geringe, inherited from Old High German giringi, with the prefix ge- added to ringi (“light, slight”), which lived on as ringe and, without the prefix, until the 17th century.[2][3][4] The adjective is otherwise found in Middle Low German geringe, Middle Dutch gheringe and Old Frisian ring;[2][3] Swedish ringa and Danish ringe were borrowed from Middle Low German.[3][4] The EWA, following Heidermanns, also finds it as the second part of Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (unmanariggws, “savage, hard to tame”) and reconstructs a Germanic form with a labiovelar, which Wiktionary gives as Proto-Germanic *ringwaz (“small, light, quick”).[4][1]

Outside Germanic, Kluge compares Lithuanian įrangùs (“nimble, busy”) and Ancient Greek ῥίμφα (rhímpha, “lightly, swiftly”), which Pfeifer and Paul also consider, since the oldest senses are “light in weight” and “nimble”; its further origin is uncertain.[2][3][5] Wiktionary connects it with wringen and Proto-Indo-European *wrengʷʰ- (“to squeeze, wring”), a link Pfeifer thinks unlikely.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Otfrid (863–871) has the adverb giringo “easily, in an easily grasped way” and the negated ungiringi “weighty”, of words.[6][7][3] The Old High German Benedictine Rule uses ringi for “slight”: in ringirom renders Latin in levioribus culpis “in lighter faults”.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Until Early New High German the word meant first “light in weight”;[5][10] Campe in 1808 still records um ein halbes Pfund zu gering as Upper German.[5][10] It was also used of light armour and light troops.[10] Middle High German geringe also meant “quick, nimble”.[3][11] From Middle High German on it developed the sense “of little value”: geringer Wein first meant a light wine and then a poor one, and of people it came to mean “of low rank”, as in Luther's die geringsten im Lande.[5] Since Middle High German it has also expressed small quantity, and the superlative is used for emphasis (nicht das Geringste) and in litotes (keinen geringen Eindruck).[5]

Geringschätzig dates from about 1500, first meaning “of little value” and since the 18th century only “contemptuous”;[5][3] geringfügig (end of the 16th century, from Early New High German geringfüge) is recorded by Henisch in 1616.[5][3] The Yiddish word גרינג (gring) “light, easy” belongs here.[1]

Timeline

  • 863–871 – Otfrid has giringo and ungiringi.[6][7]
  • 9th century – ringi “slight” in the Benedictine Rule.[9][2]
  • c. 1200 – Middle High German geringe in Reinmar.[11]
  • c. 1500 – geringschätzig.[5]
  • End of the 15th century – Geringschätzung.[3]
  • 1616 – Henisch records geringfügig.[5]
  • 17th century – the unprefixed ring drops out of use.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Small in amount, number or extent: Die Kosten waren gering.[12][1]
  2. Slight in degree, minor, negligible: nicht im Geringsten “not in the least”;[12] kein Geringerer als “no less a person than”.[12]
  3. (formal) Of humble social rank: aus geringen Verhältnissen stammen.[12][5]
  4. (formal, rare) Of inferior quality: Waren geringerer Qualität.[12]

Word family

  • geringfügig
  • Geringfügigkeit
  • geringschätzig
  • Geringschätzung
  • geringschätzen
  • verringern
  • Yiddish גרינג (gring)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 351
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 508
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 353
  8. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 1042
  9. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 261
  10. ^ 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. 5, 3689
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag