Kreis German · revision 35091

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=12th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *kraitaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kʁaɪ̯s/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Kreis''' ''m'' (genitive Kreises, plural Kreise)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|kreiz]], [[inh|goh|kreiz|t=circle, circuit, district]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*krait]], [[inh|gem-pro|*kraitaz]].^(Kluge 2011|540)^(EWA|5, 771)^(Wiktionary) Middle Low German has [[m|gml|kreit]] or [[m|gml|krēt|t=circle, lists]], and forms with ablaut stand beside them: [[dum|krijt|t=ring, area, lists]] and the Middle High German verb [[m|gmh|krîzen|t=to draw a circle]].^(Kluge 2011|540)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|5, 771) [[nl|kreits]] was borrowed from a Lower Rhenish form, and [[da|kreds]] and [[sv|krets]] go back to a similar one.^(EWA|5, 771)^(Paul 2002) The word is missing in Gothic, Old Norse and Old English.^(DWB|11, 2144)

+

+ Kluge and the EWA connect it with [[goh|krizzōn|t=to scratch, engrave]], the source of [[kritzeln]]: a circle would first have been a ring scratched into the ground, such as a place marked out for a fight.^(Kluge 2011|540)^(EWA|5, 771)^(Duden 7 2020|477) Pfeifer and Duden think of a ring with a magical or sacred function, as the old sense “magic circle” suggests.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|477) If the different vowels are taken as expressive variants, the word can instead be joined to [[kratzen]] and the root [[ine-pro|*gred-|t=to scratch]], a link Pfeifer allows and Köbler gives with a question mark.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''kreiz'' is recorded only from the 12th century, in glosses, for Latin ''circus'' and for ''orbis'', the circle of the inhabited earth.^(EWA|5, 771)^(AWB|5, 395) Middle High German used it for a circular line, a ring, an enclosed place for fights and courts, a magic circle, and a region or district.^(Köbler MHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was early applied to a ring formed by people, and then to any closed group, whatever its shape: ''im Kreise der Familie'', [[Freundeskreis]], [[Wirkungskreis]].^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|477) Since Early New High German it has also named an administrative district, including the circles into which the Holy Roman Empire was divided, and this sense lives on in [[Kreisstadt]], [[Landkreis]] and [[Wahlkreis]].^(Paul 2002)^(FWB)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ In mathematics ''Kreis'' replaced the older ''Zirkel'' only in the 17th and 18th centuries.^(Paul 2002) Adelung, around 1800, still found ''Zirkel'' the usual word for an exactly round line.^(Adelung 1793) [[Gesichtskreis]] (17th century) is Zesen's rendering of [[Horizont]], and [[Wendekreis]] translates Latin ''tropicus circulus''.^(Pfeifer 1993) [[Kreislauf]] is dated to 1738 by Paul, who calls it a loan rendering of Latin ''circulatio'', while Pfeifer places it at the start of the 18th century as a translation of English ''circulation'', after Harvey's work on the circulation of the blood (1628).^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Czech and Slovak word ''okres'' “district” was borrowed from German and reshaped, and English ''Vienna Circle'' (1934) renders ''Wiener Kreis''.^(Wiktionary)^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – Old High German ''kreiz'' appears in glosses.^(Kluge 2011|540)^(EWA|5, 771)

+ * 17th century – Zesen coins ''Gesichtskreis'' for ''Horizont'', and ''Wendekreis'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th–18th century – ''Kreis'' replaces ''Zirkel'' as the mathematical term.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1738 – ''Kreislauf'' is recorded in Hagedorn.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – ''Blutkreislauf'' is formed.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1934 – English ''Vienna Circle'' is recorded.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|circle]], a closed curve whose points are all the same distance from the centre, and the surface it encloses: ''Zeichne einen Kreis mit fünf Zentimetern Radius.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A roughly circular arrangement, figure or movement: ''Die Kinder setzten sich im Kreis um das Feuer.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A group of people who have come together, a [[m|en|gathering]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A looser community of people with shared interests or personal ties: ''ein Kreis von Briefmarkensammlern''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Sections of society: ''in politischen Kreisen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A set or series of related things or topics.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A bounded area, [[m|en|range]] or [[m|en|scope]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An administrative [[m|en|district]], usually the level above the municipalities.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(handball)'' Short for [[Wurfkreis]], the goal area.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(electrical engineering)'' Short for [[Stromkreis]] or [[Schaltkreis]], a [[m|en|circuit]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(graph theory)'' A [[m|en|cycle]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kreisen]]

+ * [[einkreisen]]

+ * [[umkreisen]]

+ * [[Umkreis]]

+ * [[Kreisel]]

+ * [[Kreislauf]]

+ * [[Blutkreislauf]]

+ * [[Gesichtskreis]]

+ * [[Wendekreis]]

+ * [[Kreisstadt]]

+ * [[Landkreis]]

+ * [[Wahlkreis]]

+ * [[Freundeskreis]]

+ * [[kreisrund]]

+ * [[Kreisverkehr]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kritzeln]]

+ * [[kratzen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Kreise ziehen'', “to spread, have wide repercussions”, comes from the rings that spread on water.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Jemandes Kreise stören'', “to disturb someone in their work or private sphere”, recalls the words ''Noli turbare circulos meos'' (“do not disturb my circles”) attributed to Archimedes, who was drawing figures in the sand when a Roman soldier came upon him.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}