Etymologically
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klassisch

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈklasɪʃ/[1]

Forms

klassisch (strong nominative masculine singular klassischer, comparative klassischer, superlative am klassischsten)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin classicus (“exemplary, model”), from Latin classicus (“of the classes of Roman citizens; of the first class”), from classis (“class”), borrowed in the 18th century under the influence of French classique.[2][3][4] The Latin adjective first meant “belonging to the first of the classes of citizens”, then “first-rate”;[2][5][6] Aulus Gellius (2nd century) applied it to a writer of the first rank.[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paul's first German record is from 1748, when Wedekind wrote of Gottsched's grammar that it would make itself klassisch.[5] At first the word was used mainly of the model writers of Greek and Roman antiquity and of all that concerned them.[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense soon widened to “exemplary, artistically perfect” in general: Lessing applied it in 1759 to Shaftesbury and Logau, and Adelung in 1774 defined a klassischer Schriftsteller as a writer of taste who had reached the greatest perfection.[5] Herder protested in 1767 against the word, which had turned Cicero and Horace into school authors.[5] With antiquity it became close to antik, as in auf classischem Boden in Goethe's Roman Elegies.[6][5] Goethe set it against romantisch: Classisch ist das Gesunde, romantisch das Kranke (“the classical is the healthy, the romantic the sick”).[5]

Later came “traditional” (das klassische Weltbild) and “typical” (ein klassischer Fall).[3] The noun Klassiker dates from the 18th century, Klassik from the 19th.[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1748 – First German record.[5]
  • 1759 – Lessing applies it to modern writers.[5]
  • 1767 – Herder protests against the word.[5]
  • 1774 – Schubart writes of die lateinischen Klassiker.[5]
  • 19th century – Klassik and Klassizismus are formed.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to Greek and Roman antiquity: die klassischen Sprachen, Greek and Latin;[7][8] klassische Philologie.[7][8]
  2. In the style of, or belonging to, a classical period of art: klassische Musik.[7][9]
  3. Perfect in form, timeless: ein Mantel von klassischem Schnitt.[7][9]
  4. Traditional, conventional; typical: ein klassischer Fall.[7][3]
  5. (colloquial) Great, excellent: Die Party war einfach klassisch![7]

Word family

  • Klassiker
  • Klassik
  • Klassizismus

References

  1. ^ a b 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. 496
  3. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 438
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 11, 1006
  7. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ a b Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org