Ziel German · revision 35024

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=9th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *tilą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tsiːl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Ziel''' ''n'' (genitive Zieles or Ziels, plural Ziele)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zil]], [[inh|goh|zil]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*til]], [[inh|gem-pro|*tilą]].^(Kluge 2011|1009)^(Wiktionary)^(Pfeifer 1993) As a noun it is recorded only in German,^(Pfeifer 1993) where only High German developed it fully, Low German having given it up.^(DWB|31, 1040) Its family is well attested in the other Germanic languages: the verbs [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍉𐌽|tr=gatilōn|t=to achieve]], [[ang|tilian|t=to strive; to till the soil]], [[ofs|tilia]], [[osx|tilian|t=to obtain]] and [[goh|zilēn|t=to strive, hurry]]; the preposition [[non|til|t=to, until]] (whence [[en|till]]), also found in Old English and Old Frisian;^(Kluge 2011|1009)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Old Norse [[m|non|aldrtili|t=end of life, death]]; and the adjective [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃|tr=gatils|t=fitting]], to which the Old English and Old Frisian adjective meaning “good” corresponds.^(Kluge 2011|1009)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Its further origin is unclear.^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge compares [[cy|eddyl|t=aim]], from [[m|cel-pro|*adilo-]], beside [[m|cy|addas|t=fitting]], and further [[la|ad|t=to, at]].^(Kluge 2011|1009) Pfeifer and the Duden consider either the root of [[Zeit]], with a first sense “what is divided off, measured”, then “end point in space or time”, or a root [[ine-pro|*ad-|t=to set, order]] with [[sga|ad|t=law]] and the Welsh words.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|951) Wiktionary likewise derives it from [[ine-pro|*deh₂y-|t=to divide]] and relates it to the Germanic words for “time”, though the details are unclear.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Kluge dates ''zil'' to the 9th century and a feminine ''zila'' to the 8th.^(Kluge 2011|1009) Old High German has only a single gloss of the 8th or 9th century, ''cil'' for Latin ''destinatum'' “target”, beside the somewhat better attested ''zila'' “zeal, effort”.^(DWB|31, 1040) Schützeichel and Köbler give the sense “limit, boundary, end”.^(Schützeichel 2012|407)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''zil'' became a rich word: the goal of a race, a shot or an attack, a fixed purpose or intention, and a fixed point or end of time.^(Lexer 1872|3, 1112)^(Köbler MHD)^(DWB|31, 1040) The target of shooting gave ''über das Ziel hinausschießen'', to overshoot the mark, and in a race the goal was once a post.^(Paul 2002) From the end of the movement came the sense “limit”, as in Luther's ''einer Sache ein Ziel setzen'' and the pair ''Maß und Ziel''.^(Paul 2002) The sense “appointed date, term”, especially a date of payment, is recorded in commercial language from 1283, with ''auf Ziel'' “on credit” from 1466; it survives mainly in southern German, where the plural could be ''Zieler''.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

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+ ''Zielstrebig'' was coined by the Baltic naturalist Karl Ernst von Baer as a German word for “teleological”;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) the GDR term ''Zielstellung'' is recorded from 1959.^(Paul 2002) The word was borrowed into Polish as ''cel'' (1450), into Hungarian as ''cél'' (1456) and into Russian as ''цель'' (1550), as well as into Czech and Slovak.^(LWP)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''zila'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|1009)

+ * 9th century – ''zil'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|1009)

+ * 1283 – ''Ziel'' in the sense “date of payment”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1450 – Polish ''cel'' is first recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 1456 – Hungarian ''cél'' “intention” is first recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 1466 – ''Auf Ziel'' “on credit” is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1834 – ''Zielbewusst'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1876 – ''Zielstrebig'' is used by Karl Ernst von Baer.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1959 – ''Zielstellung'' is recorded in the GDR.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The place someone wants to reach, a [[m|en|destination]]: ''unser Ziel heute ist Basel''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sports)'' The end of a course, the [[m|en|finish]]: ''als Zweite durchs Ziel gehen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|target]] aimed at in shooting or throwing.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|aim]], a goal or purpose one works towards: ''sich ein Ziel setzen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(commerce, regional)'' A term or date of [[m|en|payment]].^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zielen]]

+ * [[ziellos]]

+ * [[zielstrebig]]

+ * [[zielbewusst]]

+ * [[zielgerichtet]]

+ * [[Lebensziel]]

+ * [[Reiseziel]]

+ * [[Zielgruppe]]

+ * [[Ziellinie]]

+ * [[Zielscheibe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Zeit]]

+ * [[en|till]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Über das Ziel hinausschießen'' ''(colloquial)'' is to go too far; it pictures an archer who draws the bow too hard, so that the arrow flies past the target.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) In football the goal is ''Tor'', not ''Ziel''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}