Ort German · revision 34942

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German glosses and the Hildebrandslied|origins=gem-pro *uzdaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɔʁt/, [ʔɔʁt], [ʔɔɐ̯t]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Ort''' ''m'' (genitive Ortes or Orts, plural Orte or (jargon) Örter, diminutive Örtchen n)^(Wiktionary)

+ Beside the plural ''Orte'' there is ''Örter'', which the Grimms' dictionary describes as more individual against the collective ''Orte''.^(DWB|13, 1350) In the 15th and 16th centuries the plurals ''örte'' and ''ört'' were also used.^(DWB|13, 1350) Early New High German, and Upper German still today, also treated the word as a neuter.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ort]], [[inh|goh|ort|t=point, tip]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*oʀd]], [[inh|gem-pro|*uzdaz|t=point]].^(Kluge 2011|674)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[osx|ord]], [[non|oddr|t=point of a weapon, spear]], [[ang|ord]] and [[ofs|ord]], and today [[nl|oord]], [[sv|udd]] and [[is|oddur]].^(Kluge 2011|674)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) It is not recorded in Gothic, but the Old Norse /dd/ points to an older /zd/.^(DWB|13, 1350)^(Kroonen 2013) The first meaning was “point”, especially the point of a weapon, then “outermost end”, and, seen as a location, “region, spot”.^(Kluge 2011|674)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ Its further origin is uncertain.^(Pfeifer 1993) Outside Germanic, Kluge and Orel compare [[lt|usnìs|t=thistle]] and [[sq|usht|t=ear of grain]], which share the sense “point”.^(Kluge 2011|674)^(Orel 2003) Pfeifer adds [[lv|usne|t=thistle]] and [[sga|fennaid|t=flays]] and sets up a root [[ine-pro|*u̯es-|t=to prick]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) Kroonen suggests instead an old compound of [[gem-pro|*uz|t=out]] and the root [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to put]], comparing [[lt|iñdas|t=vessel]], literally “in-put”.^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''ort'' is recorded from the last quarter of the 8th century in glosses and in the ''Hildebrandslied'', and later in Notker, meaning “point of a weapon, hook, sting, corner, edge, border, end”.^(EWA|6, 1210)^(Schützeichel 2012|246) The ''Hildebrandslied'' says that gifts should be received with the spear, ''ort widar orte'' “point against point”.^(DWB|13, 1350)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle High German ''ort'' named the outermost point in space and time: beginning and end, the point of a weapon or tool, a corner or edge, a quarter of the sky, and also a place.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Lexer 1872|2, 169) From “corner, end” the word came to mean “part of space, place”, already in Middle High German, and it was paired with [[Stelle]] in ''an Ort und Stelle''.^(Paul 2002)^(Kluge 2011|674) It then became the general word for a town or village.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ The old sense “point” survives regionally in ''Ort'' “awl”, and “end, corner” in place names such as ''Ruhrort'' and ''Darßer Ort''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Miners used ''Ort'' for the end of a gallery, where the work is done; from there ''vor Ort'' came to mean “on the spot”, especially in journalism.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020) The diminutive ''Örtchen'' became a euphemism for the toilet, in the 17th century according to Pfeifer and the Duden and in the 19th according to Paul; plain ''Ort'' had occasionally been used so in the 15th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Paul 2002) The mining word was borrowed into Polish as ''ort'' in 1564 and into Russian as [[m|ru|орт|tr=ort]] in 1735.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Last quarter of the 8th century – Old High German ''ort'' appears in glosses and the ''Hildebrandslied''.^(EWA|6, 1210)

+ * Around 1000 – ''ortōn'' “to give corners to, bound” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – ''Ort'' is used for the privy.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1544 – Hungarian borrows ''ort'' “quarter of a measure or coin”.^(LWP)

+ * 16th century – The miners' verb ''orten'' “to meet at an acute angle” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1564 – Polish ''ort'' “mining gallery” is recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 17th century – ''Örtchen'' is used for the toilet.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 1727 – ''örtlich'' “local” is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – ''Ortschaft'' “village, locality” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 20th century – ''orten'' “to determine the position of” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|place]], spot or location where someone or something is or where something happens: ''am Ort des Unfalls''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A particular place within a room or building: ''ein ruhiger Ort zum Lesen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A [[m|en|village]], small town or locality: ''in einem kleinen Ort an der Küste wohnen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The inhabitants of such a place: ''der ganze Ort feierte''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics, astronomy; plural Örter)'' A [[m|en|locus]], or the position of a star.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(Switzerland, historical)'' A [[m|en|canton]] of the Old Swiss Confederacy.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mining; neuter, plural Örter)'' The end of a gallery, the working face.^(Wiktionary)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(dated or regional)'' An [[m|en|awl]].^(Wiktionary)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[örtlich]]

+ * [[Örtlichkeit]]

+ * [[orten]]

+ * [[Ortung]]

+ * [[Ortschaft]]

+ * [[Örtchen]]

+ * [[erörtern]]

+ * [[allerorten]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Older German also used ''Ort'' for a quarter of a coin, and then of a weight or measure, as in ''Ortstaler'' and ''Ortsgulden''.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary) Paul derives this use from the sense “corner”,^(Paul 2002) while Wiktionary treats it as a separate word, from Middle Low German ''ort'' “leftover, fragment”, related to English ''orts'' “scraps”.^(Wiktionary) Adelung had already connected the sense “piece” with the Low German ''Ort'' for fodder left by cattle.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}