Etymologically
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regelmäßig

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʁeːɡəlˌmɛːsɪç/, /-ˌmeːsɪç/, /-ˌmɛːsɪk/[1]

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
  • 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