Etymologically
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voll

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Pronunciation

Forms

voll (strong nominative masculine singular voller, comparative voller, superlative am vollsten)[1] Older New High German often had umlauted comparatives, völler, völlest.[2][3] The stem is spelt with v before o and ö (voll, Völlerei) but with f before ü (füllen, Fülle), because v is not written for /f/ before u and ü.[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vol, inherited from Old High German fol, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *full, inherited from Proto-Germanic *fullaz (“full”).[4][5][1] The same adjective is Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌻𐍃 (fulls), Old Norse fullr, Old English full, Old Frisian ful and Old Saxon ful, and today Dutch vol, English full and Swedish full.[4][6][2]

It continues Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“filled”), an old participle in -no- of the root Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁- (“to fill”), which also gave Sanskrit पूर्ण (pūrṇá, “full”), Lithuanian pìlnas, Old Church Slavonic пльнъ (plĭnŭ), Old Irish lán and, with another ablaut grade, Latin plēnus.[4][5][6][1] In Germanic the group -ln- was assimilated to -ll-.[5] The verb of the same root is seen in Ancient Greek πίμπλημι (pímplēmi, “to fill”) and Latin -pleō (“to fill”).[4][5] The words viel and Volk are also connected with this root.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German fol is recorded from the last quarter of the 8th century in glosses and in the Benediktinerregel, and then in Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[8][9] It meant “full, filled”, also “pregnant, laden”, and figuratively “meaningful, perfect, complete”.[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German vol also meant “satiated” and “drunk”, uses that live on colloquially.[11][12] What a thing is full of was first put in the genitive, as in Luther's sie sind voll süßen Weines; later the uninflected noun took its place (ein Beutel voll Geld), or von, and the fixed form voller became the usual predicative form (der Saal ist voller Leute).[12][2] As the second element of compounds -voll forms many adjectives of quality, the opposite of -los: ehrenvoll, gefühlvoll, wertvoll.[12]

Derivatives include vollends (17th century), vollständig (16th century) and Vollmacht, a loan translation of Latin plēnipotentia first recorded in the 14th century.[5][7] Among younger speakers voll is used colloquially as an intensifier, “really, totally”.[1]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German fol in glosses and the Benediktinerregel.[8][4]
  • 1060–1065 – Middle High German vol in Williram.[11]
  • 14th century – Vollmacht is formed after Latin plēnipotentia.[7]
  • 16th century – vollständig is recorded.[5][7]
  • 17th century – vollends with adverbial -s.[5][7]
  • 18th century – Vollblut “thoroughbred horse”, after English full-blood.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Full, filled so that nothing more fits in: ein voller Korb.[13][1]
  2. Crowded: die Straßenbahn war sehr voll.[13]
  3. With a noun: full of, covered with: ein Glas voll Wasser, ein Hemd voller Flecken.[13][12]
  4. (colloquial) Satiated, having eaten enough.[13][1]
  5. (colloquial) Drunk.[1][14]
  6. Complete, entire: eine volle Stunde.[13][14]
  7. Rounded, plump; rich in tone or flavour: ein volles Gesicht, ein voller Klang.[13][14]

Adverb

  1. Fully, completely: voll verantwortlich.[1][13]
  2. (colloquial, chiefly among the young) Very, really: das war voll gut.[1]

Word family

  • proppenvoll
  • sinnvoll
  • völlig
  • Vollkorn
  • Vollmond
  • Volltreffer
  • wertvoll
  • vollends
  • vollständig
  • vollkommen
  • Vollmacht
  • vollstrecken
  • Vollblut

Usage notes

Jemanden nicht für voll nehmen “not to take someone seriously” comes from the old coinage: a coin was taken für voll when its weight and metal met the legal standard.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 445
  3. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  4. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 962
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
  10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 108
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  14. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  15. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de