Etymologically
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traditionell

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Pronunciation

  • [tʁaditsi̯oˈnɛl][1]

Forms

traditionell (strong nominative masculine singular traditioneller, comparative traditioneller, superlative am traditionellsten)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French traditionnel, borrowed in the early 19th century; the French adjective, of the 18th century, is formed from tradition.[2][3][4] In German it can also be seen as Tradition with the suffix -ell.[1][5] The noun was borrowed in the first half of the 16th century from Latin trāditiō (“handing over, transmission”), from trādō (“to hand over”), which is formed from trāns- (“across”) and dō (“to give”).[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1823, about jene traditionelle Theateretikette “that traditional theatre etiquette”.[2] It meant “based on tradition, handed down”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective soon meant “customary, conventional” and could be praising (“steeped in history”) or critical (“too bound to tradition”).[2] An older sense “handed down by oral or written report”, used of legends and stories by Immermann and Alexander von Humboldt, is now dated.[2][7] As an adverb it also means “as usual, as always”.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1st half of the 16th century – Tradition is borrowed from Latin.[3]
  • 1823 – First record of traditionell.[2]
  • 1831 – die Vergangenheit mit ihren traditionellen Interessen.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. traditional: according to or based on tradition: die traditionelle Küche.[4][1]
  2. Customary, as always: Das Fest findet traditionell im Mai statt.[4][2]
  • Tradition
  • tradieren
  • Traditionalismus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  3. ^ a b c 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 923
  7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 21, 1025