regelmäßig

Forms

regelmäßig (strong nominative masculine singular regelmäßiger, comparative regelmäßiger, superlative am regelmäßigsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German Regel (“rule”) + -mäßig (“in accordance with”), formed in the second half of the 17th century.^[2][3] The noun is Middle High German regel, Old High German regula, first taken over as a word of monastic life, the rule of an order, from Latin rēgula (“straight stick, ruler; rule”), from regō (“to direct, guide”).^[4][2][5] The Latin vowel had already been shortened in Medieval Latin.^[4] The same noun is Dutch regel, Old English regol and Old Norse regla, and English rule comes from the same Latin word through French.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paul finds the adjective in Stieler's dictionary (1691) with the sense “in accordance with a rule”.^[6] Pfeifer dates it to the second half of the 17th century with the sense “ordered by fixed rules, even”.^[2] Adelung uses it both of things that follow the rules and of a person who keeps them, as in ein regelmäßiges Schauspiel “a play that keeps the rules”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

As an adverb meaning “recurring at constant intervals, always” it is recorded from the end of the 18th century.^[2] Paul notes that today it chiefly means “at even intervals”, while the older sense “according to a rule” has gone to regelrecht and regulär.^[6] In grammar regelmäßige Verben are verbs that inflect by a fixed pattern.^[8] Dutch regelmatig, recorded in 1661, is listed among the words borrowed from German.^[9]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German regula “rule of an order” is recorded.^[4]
• 1661 – Dutch regelmatig is recorded.^[9]
• Second half of the 17th century – regelmäßig appears in German.^[2]
• 1691 – Stieler's dictionary lists it.^[6]
• End of the 18th century – Adverbial use for things that recur at fixed intervals.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Well-proportioned, symmetrical, even in shape: Sie hat sehr regelmäßige Züge.^[8][1]
2. Following a fixed order, especially recurring at equal intervals; regular: regelmäßige Busverbindungen.^[8][1]
3. (grammar) Inflected according to a fixed rule: regelmäßige Verben.^[8]

Adverb

1. Regularly, at fixed intervals: Er geht regelmäßig schwimmen.^[8][1]
2. (colloquial) Every time, again and again: Sie verpasst regelmäßig den ersten Zug.^[8]

Word family

• Regelmäßigkeit
• unregelmäßig

Related words

• regulär
• Regel
• regeln
• regelrecht
• regulieren

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 681
4. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 753
5. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
6. ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
7. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 3, 1020
8. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de