German words first recorded in the 14th century

It is a fusion from German erst + -mals of the ordinal and Mal (“time, occasion”). The ending is the old genitive of the noun, kept in adverbs of this kind such as ehemals (from a Middle High German…

It is a univerbation of a genitive of time, Middle High German der zīte (“at the time”), made of the article der and Zeit. A side form derenzeit is also recorded. Compare Dutch destijds (“at the…

It is inherited from Middle High German erinnern, a prefixed form of innern (“to remind, inform, teach”), which goes back to Old High German innarōn and is derived from the Old High German…

It is inherited from Middle High German īnsaz (“putting in; something put in”), a noun formed from the verb einsetzen. In modern terms it is ein- + Satz, a noun that Kluge takes as formed from the…

It is inherited from Middle High German vereine (“union, agreement”), a feminine noun formed from the verb vereinen (modern vereinen). In Early New High German the feminine noun is recorded in the…

It is formed from German Plotz + -lich: the obsolete noun was a sound-imitating word for a quick, often loud blow, impact or fall. Kluge notes that the noun itself is recorded only later than the…

It is borrowed from Middle Low German bedrīven (“to graze cattle on; to carry on”), which is first recorded in Middle Low German and spread into High German in the 16th century, adapted as from…

It is a compound from German mit- + Glied. Kluge describes it as a strengthening of Glied in the sense “part of a community”. Adelung compares Medieval Latin commembris. The base noun is Middle High…

It is inherited from Middle High German persōnlich, a derivative of persōn (“person”) (modern Person) with the suffix -lich. The noun was borrowed in the 12th century from Latin persōna (“mask…

It is inherited from Middle High German unval (“misfortune”), which took the place of older ungeval, formed from German un- + Fall. The older word is also Middle Low German ungeval and Middle Dutch…

It is inherited from Middle High German īnstellen, a late Middle High German verb formed from German ein- + stellen. The same verb is Middle Low German instellen and Middle Dutch instellen, Dutch…

It is inherited from Middle High German ūzgābe, a noun formed to the verb ausgeben, from aus and geben. The verb is Middle High German ūzgeben, Old High German ūzgeban. The same formation is Dutch…

It is the noun of eintreten, Middle High German întrit. The verb is from German ein- + treten. treten goes back to Proto-West Germanic *tredan (“to tread”), also in Old English tredan and Old…

It is inherited from Middle High German turnier, turnîr, a back-formation from the verb turnieren (“to wheel one's horse; to take part in a tournament”), which is borrowed from Old French tornier…

It is inherited from Middle High German prēsentieren, borrowed from Old French presenter (“to offer, put at someone's disposal, introduce”), borrowed in the Middle High German period. The French…

It is inherited from Middle High German studente, borrowed from Medieval Latin studēns (“student”) (taken in an inflected form), the present participle of Latin studeō (“to be eager for, strive…

It is a noun formed from German aussagen (“to state, testify”), which is from Middle High German ūʒsagen (“to pronounce, recite”) (late Middle High German), from ūʒ (“out”) and sagen (“to say”). The…

It is inherited from Middle High German entscheidunge, from German entscheiden + -ung. The verb entscheiden, already Middle High German, was first used of a judge's ruling: separating statements and…

It is a noun formed from the verb auftragen “to hand over, transfer”, later “to instruct, commission”, itself from German auf- + tragen. Kluge dates the noun in its modern sense to the 17th century…

It is formed from German dar- + stellen, with the particle meaning “there, forth”. It properly meant “to set something up (for a purpose)”, then also “to name someone for a task” and “to produce”…

It is from German leiten + -ung, already Middle High German as leitunge (“leading, guidance”). The verb is Middle High German leiten, Old High German leiten, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to…

It is formed from German ob + wohl, from the older use of ob as a conditional and concessive conjunction, reinforced by the adverb. The parts were long written separately, as in Middle High German…

It is inherited from Middle High German swiric (“full of sores, festering”), also sweric, derived from swer (“pain, swelling, ulcer”), the noun belonging to schwären (“to fester”). Kluge also gives…

It is inherited from Middle High German thema, borrowed from Latin thema (“proposition, subject”), from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma, “something laid down, proposition”), a noun to τίθημι (títhēmi, “to…

It is inherited from Middle High German universitēt, borrowed from Medieval Latin ūniversitās (“corporation (of masters and students)”), borrowed in the 14th century. The Latin noun meant “the…

It is a shortening: inherited from Middle High German von wegen (“on the part of”) had a genitive between the preposition and the noun; wegen is the dative plural of wec, the ancestor of Weg, used…

It is from German zu + vor. According to Paul and the Grimms it came into High German from Low German: Middle Low German tovoren was taken into Middle German as zuvorn, first recorded in Nikolaus…

It is inherited from Middle High German sluz (“end; knot”), formed with ablaut to the verb schließen, like Middle Low German slūt. The verb is Middle High German sliezen, Old High German sliozan…

It is inherited from Middle High German wihtec (“sold by weight”), borrowed from Middle Low German wichtich (“weighed, heavy”), from wichte (“weight”). The noun is a form without the prefix of the…

It is from German regieren + -ung, first recorded in late Middle High German as regierunge. Pfeifer dates the noun to the middle of the 15th century. The verb is Middle High German regieren (“to…

It is inherited from Middle High German vertreter (“protector, advocate”), recorded in late Middle High German, formed from German vertreten + -er. The verb is Old High German firtretan (“to…

It is late Middle High German besunder, which took the place of the simple adjective sunder (“separate, own, distinguished”). The new adjective was shaped by the older adverb besunder (“separately…

It is inherited from Middle High German besunder (“apart, separately; excellent”) with an adverbial /-s/, a fusion of unstressed bī (“by”) (now bei) and the adjective and adverb sunder (“apart, set…

It is the past participle of the verb bestimmen, used as an adjective “fixed, decided” since the 15th century and as an adverb “certainly” since about 1800. The verb goes back to Middle High German…

It is late inherited from Middle High German bezirc (“circuit, district”), formed from Middle High German be- + zirc (“circle, circumference”). According to Kluge, the verb bezirken (“to fix the…

It is formed from German ein + -fach. Pfeifer, Paul and the Grimms' dictionary explain it as made on the model of older adjectives such as Middle High German zwivach (“twofold”), viervach…

It is from German ein (“one”) + Mal (“time, occasion”), an accusative phrase that grew into one word. The second part is Old High German māl (“point in time”), the word for a point in time that is…

It is the agent noun from German fahren + -er, Middle High German varer. In late Middle High German and Early New High German it was rare on its own and commoner as the second part of compounds such…

It is borrowed from Middle Low German helfte, which made its way into High German in the 15th century. The word was formed with a dental suffix from Middle Low German half (“half”), the Low German…

It is a back-formation from the verb haushalten, Middle High German hūshalten, itself formed from Haus in the sense “household” and halten. Compare Middle Low German hūsholt, Dutch huishouden…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin interesse (“loss arising from a liability to compensate; interest”), a legal term of Medieval Latin, recorded from the 13th century. It is the infinitive of Latin…

It is an adverb formed from lang. Kluge, Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary take it to be the same word as längs, from the adverbial genitive Middle High German langes, lenges (“lengthwise; long…

It is borrowed from Spanish liga (“alliance, league”), from ligar (“to bind, unite”), from Latin ligō (“to bind, tie”). It came into use in the 15th century as a name for Catholic alliances…

It is inherited from Middle High German linkes, originally the genitive singular of linc (“left; awkward”), the ancestor of link; the adverb is recorded from the 15th century. Of this family only…

It is from German Magd + -chen, a diminutive of the noun in its old sense “girl, maiden”. The first record is Middle Low German mēgedeken in the 15th century, followed by East Central German forms…

It was borrowed in the 15th century, borrowed from Medieval Latin minūta (“sixtieth of an hour”), the feminine of Latin minūtus (“made smaller, very small”), the past participle of minuō (“to make…

It is a univerbation of nach and dem, the dative of the demonstrative and article der, used together as a conjunction. The older language used the instrumental instead of the dative: Old High German…

It is late inherited from Middle High German per, borrowed from Latin per (“through, by means of”). It came in through the language of merchants in the 15th century, under the influence of the same…

It is borrowed from Italian per cento (“for a hundred, per hundred”), borrowed into the language of south German merchants in the 15th century. The Italian phrase is made of per (“for, by”) and…

It is inherited from Middle High German rolle or rulle, borrowed from Old French rolle (“roll of parchment, list”), from Medieval Latin rotulus and rotula (“small wheel”), diminutives of Latin rota…

It is inherited from Middle High German runde (“circle, surroundings”), an abstract noun of the adjective runt (“round”), the ancestor of rund. The adjective was borrowed in the 13th century from…

It is from German sitzen + -ung, recorded from the 15th century, at first in the sense “sitting down”. It is formed like English sitting. The verb sitzen is Old High German sizzen, from…

It is from German Tat + -er; it first occurs as the second element of compounds such as Middle High German übeltæter (“evildoer”) and missetæter, and became an independent word in the 15th century…

It is inherited from Middle High German treffen (“hostile encounter, decisive blow, battle”), the infinitive of the Middle High German verb “to meet the enemy” used as a noun. Kluge dates this…

It is formed from German um- + fassen, the verb with the prefix meaning “around”. Middle High German already had umbevazzen (“to embrace”), and Middle Low German ummevaten is found in 1473. The base…

It is inherited from Middle High German undersuochunge, formed from German untersuchen + -ung at the end of the Middle High German period. The verb, like the noun, is first recorded in the 15th…

It is late Middle High German verbindunge, a noun from German verbinden + -ung. Middle Low German had vorbindinge (“connection, alliance”) at the same time. The verb is Middle High German verbinden…

It is inherited from Middle High German vervüegen (“to fit, be proper”), formed from Middle High German ver- + vüegen (“to fit together”), the ancestor of fügen. Kluge dates the Early New High…

It is from German verhandeln + -ung. Late Middle High German and early modern verhandelunge meant “wrong action, offence”, from the old sense of verhandeln “to act wrongly, treat badly”. The verb is…

It is a derivation from German verwalten + -ung, recorded since the 15th century. The verb, Middle High German verwalten “to have in one's power, take care of”, is a prefix derivation of walten…