Donnerstag German · revision 34945

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=calque, compound|attested=11th century, Old High German glosses|origins=la Iovis diēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdɔnɐsˌtaːk/, /ˈdɔnɐsˌtax/, /ˈdɔnɐsˌtaːx/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Donnerstag''' ''m'' (genitive Donnerstages or Donnerstags, plural Donnerstage)^(Wiktionary)

+ Spellings with ''du-'' were common in the 13th century, those with ''do-'' prevail from the 14th, and ''dorn(s)-'' and ''donr(s)-'' are frequent in the 15th.^(DWB2|6, 1241) Paracelsus writes ''donstag''.^(DWB|2, 1252)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|donerstac]], [[inh|goh|donarestag]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*Þunras dag|t=day of the thunder god]], a loan translation [[der|la|Iovis diēs|t=day of Jupiter]].^(Kluge 2011|211)^(DWB2|6, 1241)^(Wiktionary) The Latin name, continued in [[it|giovedì]] and [[fr|jeudi]], refers to the planet Jupiter and so to the supreme sky god, and the Germanic peoples replaced him by their god of weather and thunder, Donar (see [[Donner]]).^(Kluge 2011|211)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge suggests that this god was the highest among the farming population, and that the thunderbolt-hurling [[la|Iuppiter tonāns|t=thundering Jupiter]] made the equation easier.^(Kluge 2011|211) The same name is [[ang|þunresdæg]], [[ofs|thunresdei]], [[dum|donresdach]] and [[gml|dōnerdach]], and today [[nl|donderdag]].^(Kluge 2011|211)^(EWA|2, 722) The Grimms' dictionary held that it was not a translation but a direct reference to the heathen thunder god.^(DWB|2, 1252)

+

+ [[non|þórsdagr]], [[sv|torsdag]] and [[en|Thursday]] (through Norse influence on Old English) contain the Norse form of the god's name, Thor.^(Kluge 2011|211)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB2|6, 1241) In Bavarian and Austrian dialects the day is [[Pfinztag]], which goes back to [[grc|πέμπτη ἡμέρα|tr=pémptē hēméra|t=fifth day]] and was passed on by the mission of the Goths.^(Kluge 2011|211)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''donarestag'' is found only in glosses, from the 11th century, beginning with the glosses to Notker's Psalms, rendering ''dies Iovis'', ''feria quinta'' and ''quinta sabbati''.^(EWA|2, 722)^(AWB|2, 598)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Thursday of Holy Week has been called ''der grüene donerstac'' since the 13th century, as a compound [[Gründonnerstag]] since the 15th.^(Kluge 2011|378)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Duden connects the name with the custom of eating something green that day, while Adelung, around 1800, reported the old guess that ''grün'' came from a word for Lent.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Adelung 1793) Regionally, ''fetter Donnerstag'' or ''schmutziger Donnerstag'' is the Thursday before Lent, when food fried in fat was still allowed.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The Grimms' dictionary records traces of the day's old sanctity: in 17th-century Mecklenburg it was believed that one should not spin on a Thursday.^(DWB|2, 1252)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 11th century – ''donarestag'' in the glosses to Notker's Psalms.^(EWA|2, 722)^(Kluge 2011|211)

+ * 1190–1195 – Middle High German ''donerstac'' in the ''Lucidarius''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 13th century – ''der grüene donerstac'' for the Thursday of Holy Week.^(Kluge 2011|378)

+ * 14th century – Spellings with ''do-'' begin to prevail over ''du-''.^(DWB2|6, 1241)

+ * 15th century – The compound ''Gründonnerstag''.^(Kluge 2011|378)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Thursday]], the fourth day of the week counted from Monday, between Wednesday and Friday.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Gründonnerstag]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Donner]]

+ * [[Tag]]

+ * [[en|Thursday]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}