wirtschaftlich

Forms

wirtschaftlich (strong nominative masculine singular wirtschaftlicher, comparative wirtschaftlicher, superlative am wirtschaftlichsten)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German Wirtschaft + -lich.^[1][2][3] The noun is Middle High German wirtschaft, Old High German wirtscaft (“hospitality, entertaining of guests, feast”), formed with the suffix -schaft from Wirt “host, master of the house”, so that it first named what a host or householder does.^[4][3][5] It has counterparts only in Low German and Dutch: Old Saxon werdskepi (“entertainment of guests, banquet”), Middle Low German wertschap, Middle Dutch wertscap and the dialectal Dutch waardschap (“visit, banquet”).^[3][5]

The base noun continues Proto-Germanic *werduz (“master of the house, host”), also found in Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wairdus).^[6][1] Kluge compares Old Irish ferthigis (“steward in charge of guests”) and leaves its further origin open.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded once in 1596, in a chronicle by W. Bütner, in a sense taken from Wirtschaft “feast, banquet”: roughly “festive, social”, in zu wirtschafftlichen ehren (“to the honours of the feast”).^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

From the first half of the 18th century the adjective followed the newer senses of the noun, “management of a household” and “household”: Steinbach's dictionary of 1734 records it as “thrifty, economical” and “relating to the household”.^[7][8] The Duden etymological dictionary dates the present meaning to the same period.^[5] In the 18th century writers used it of thrifty diligence and housekeeping skills, and Lessing reports an order to use the ammunition wirthschaftlich, sparingly.^[7]

When Wirtschaft became the term of political economy in the 19th century, the sense “relating to the economy” came to the fore, and it is now the adjective's main meaning beside “financial”.^[3][9] The older sense survives in “economical, cost-effective”, said of a car or a way of driving.^[9][1]

Timeline

• 10th century – Old High German wirtscaft “hospitality, meal” appears in glosses.^[10][4]
• 1596 – First, isolated record of the adjective, meaning “festive, social”.^[7][3]
• 1690 – The compound Wirtschaftswissenschaft is first recorded.^[8]
• 1734 – Steinbach's dictionary records “thrifty” and “relating to the household”.^[8][7]
• 19th century – Wirtschaft becomes the usual term for the economy.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to the economy of a country or society: wirtschaftliche Reformen.^[9][2]
2. Financial, concerning money: Sie ist wirtschaftlich unabhängig.^[9][2]
3. Thrifty, good at managing household resources.^[9]
4. Economical, efficient, cost-effective: ein wirtschaftlicher Motor.^[9][1]

Word family

• Wirtschaftlichkeit

Related words

• Wirtschaft
• Wirt
• wirtlich
• bewirten

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 992
5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 991
7. ^ 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. 30, 687
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling