1200s
German words first recorded in the 13th century
66 German words whose earliest known written record dates from the 13th century, earliest first (page 2). Words dated only to part of the century follow the ones with a year.
Vorwurf
1300In its main sense “reproach” it is a noun formed from the verb vorwerfen, recorded since the 16th century. The verb, Middle High German vürwerfen, Old High German furiwerfan, first meant “to throw…
wirklich
1300It is inherited from Middle High German würkelich, also wirkelich, formed by the mystics from wirken with the suffix -lich, meaning “acting, done by acting”. The Grimms record würkenlich and…
Wissen
1300It is the verb wissen used as a noun, inherited from Middle High German wizzen (“knowledge”). The verb continues Old High German wizzan, Proto-Germanic *witaną (“to know”), an old preterite-present…
Zeitung
1300It is inherited from Middle High German zīdunge (“news, message”), borrowed from Middle Low German tīdinge (“event, news”). The High German form, with /ts/ for the Low German /t/, first appears…
zufrieden
1300–1330It is a compound from German zu + Frieden (“peace”), the phrase “at peace” grown together into one word. It was first used with verbs of direction such as setzen, stellen and kommen (“to bring to…
zweite
1300–1399It is from German zwei + -te, a late formation on the model of the other ordinal numbers. It replaced ander, the older ordinal for “second”. The sources differ on the date: the Grimms' dictionary…