Etymologically
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melden

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈmɛldən/, [ˈmɛl.dn̩][1]

Forms

melden (third-person singular present meldet, past tense meldete, past participle gemeldet, auxiliary haben)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German melden (“to tell, announce, betray”), inherited from Old High German meldōn (“to denounce, betray”), inherited from Proto-West Germanic *melþōn (“to point out, announce, betray”).[2][3][1] Old High German also had a form meldēn of another weak class.[2][4] The same word is Old Saxon meldon and Old English meldian, continued in Dutch melden; it is derived from a noun meaning “denunciation, betrayal”, Old High German melda and Old English meld.[2][3] The Grimms' dictionary notes that the verb is found only in West Germanic, with no relatives in Gothic or outside Germanic.[5]

Its further origin is disputed.[2][6] One view, going back to Benveniste, connects it with Lithuanian melsti (“to ask, pray”) and maldà (“request, prayer”) and a root of ritual address to the gods;[2][3] Pfeifer follows it, setting up Proto-Indo-European *meldʰ- (“to address ritual words to a deity”).[2][3] Another, Fraenkel's, joins it to words for lying and deceit, such as Old Irish mellaid (“deceives”).[2][7] Kluge finds the second closer in meaning, but notes that the Germanic verb can also be neutral (“to report”), and considers most likely a root meaning “to come, appear”, causative “to show”, found in Ancient Greek βλώσκω (blṓskō, “to go, come”).[2] Hittite mald- (“to recite, vow”) could belong to either of the first two.[2] Duden calls the origin unclear.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German meldēn is first recorded in glosses of about 790, and meldōn in the Tatian (about 830); the agent noun meldāri “traitor” is older, from the 8th century.[4][2] Schützeichel gives the senses “to reveal; to slander, betray” in the Benedictine Rule, the Murbach Hymns and Notker, and “to denounce, betray” in Otfrid and the Tatian.[9] Notker writes that Judas meldet (betrays) Christ to the Jews.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the older stages the verb meant “to give away a secret, betray”.[6][10] The Grimms' dictionary sees the hostile sense of betraying or informing as the oldest, also shown by the derivatives: Old High German meldāri was a traitor or spy and meldunga betrayal.[5][3] Luther still used it so in Matthew 12:16, where Jesus charges those he healed not to make him known.[10][5]

In Middle High German the idea of secrecy faded, and the verb came to mean “to announce, tell, name”.[6] Today it is often “to report as a duty”, to an authority or a superior, and reflexively “to present oneself, come forward”.[6][10] In chancery language jemanden melden meant “to mention someone”, which survives in obgemeldet (“above-mentioned”), and vermelden belonged to the formal language of chanceries and compliments.[10] The noun Meldung follows the senses of the verb;[10] Paul cites it from Adelung (1777) and notes its use for a news report in the media.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 790 – Old High German meldēn in glosses.[4]
  • 8th century – The agent noun meldāri “traitor”.[2]
  • c. 830 – meldōn in the Old High German Tatian.[4]
  • 1150–1170 – Middle High German melden in Lamprecht's Alexander.[11]
  • 1777 – Adelung records the noun Meldung.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To report, announce (as news or an official report): Das Radio meldete einen Stau auf der Autobahn.[8][1]
  2. To report, notify (to the proper authority); to register someone: einen Diebstahl der Polizei melden.[8][1]
  3. (reflexive) To come forward, volunteer, apply or enter (for a task or an examination).[8][1]
  4. (reflexive) To get in touch, be heard from.[8][1]
  5. (reflexive) To put one's hand up (of pupils in class).[8][1]
  6. Of a dog: to give tongue, bark a warning.[8]
  7. (hunting) Of a stag or a capercaillie: to make its rutting call.[8]
  8. (sports) To enter (a competitor).[8]

Word family

  • Meldung
  • vermelden
  • abmelden
  • anmelden
  • krankmelden
  • ummelden
  • zurückmelden
  • Melder

Usage notes

Nichts zu melden haben (colloquial) is to have no say in a matter.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 614
  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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ 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. 12, 1991
  6. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 219
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling