mitteilen

Forms

mitteilen (third-person singular present teilt mit, past tense teilte mit, past participle mitgeteilt, auxiliary haben)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German mite teilen “to share something with someone, let someone have something”, formed from German mit- + teilen.^[2][3][1] The base verb is formed from Teil “part”, which is Old High German teil and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dailiz, with the cognates Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (dails), Old Saxon dēl and Old English dǣl (whence English deal).^[2][4][1] Outside Germanic, Pfeifer compares Slavic forms and Lithuanian dailýti (“to divide”).^[2] Its further origin is uncertain: Pfeifer considers a root Proto-Indo-European *dā(i)- (“to divide, cut up”), or a borrowing from a substrate language shared with Balto-Slavic.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German mite teilen meant to share something with someone, to give or let someone have something.^[3][2][5] A 15th-century Latin–German vocabulary glosses mit teilen with Latin impartire, and a Weistum from Alsace of the end of the 15th century speaks of the lords who have “imparted” their grace and friendship.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Early New High German the giver is often the superior party, God or a lord who imparts grace, and the verb could also mean to proclaim the word of God.^[7][6] In the Bible it often refers to alms, as in Luther's der dem Hungrigen sein Brot mitteilet “who gives his bread to the hungry” (Ezekiel 18:7), and Goethe could still write of giving a beggar etwas Weniges mitzuteilen “a little something”.^[5][6]

From the 16th century the verb was used of the transfer of forces and qualities, and so reflexively: warmth, electricity or a mood teilt sich mit “spreads to” others.^[5] The commonest sense since the 18th century has been to pass on knowledge or news.^[5] Mitteilung is recorded by Frisius in 1541, and mitteilsam “communicative” by Campe in 1809.^[5][2]

Timeline

• Middle High German – mite teilen “to share with, let someone have”.^[2][3]
• End of the 15th century – An Alsatian Weistum speaks of imparting grace and friendship.^[6]
• 1541 – Frisius records Mitteilung.^[5]
• 1561 – Maaler glosses mitteilen with Latin impertire and communicare.^[6]
• 16th century – The verb is used of transferring forces and qualities.^[5]
• 18th century – “To inform, tell” becomes the commonest sense.^[5]
• 1809 – Campe records mitteilsam.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To inform someone of something, to tell, let know: Sie hat uns ihre Entscheidung schriftlich mitgeteilt.^[3][1]
2. (elevated) To pass something on to something or someone, to transmit: Die Heizung teilt die Wärme dem ganzen Raum mit.;^[3] (reflexive) to spread to: Seine Unruhe teilte sich allen mit.^[3]
3. (elevated, reflexive) To confide in someone, to open one's heart: sich einem Freund mitteilen.^[3]
4. (elevated, dated) To give someone a share of something, to share.^[3][1]

Word family

• Mitteilung
• mitteilsam
• mitteilbar

Related words

• verteilen
• teilen
• Teil

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 2421
7. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de