Idee German · revision 35111

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1524|origins=grc ἰδεῖν}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /iˈdeː/, [ʔiˈdeː], [ʔɪˈdeː]^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''Idee''' ''f'' (genitive Idee, plural Ideen, diminutive Idechen n or Idelein n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|idea|t=idea, archetype]], used in German in its Latin form from the early 16th century; the present form arose in the 17th century under the influence of [[fr|idée]].^(DFWB)^(Kluge 2011|435)^(Pfeifer 1993) The source is [[grc|ἰδέα|tr=idéa|t=appearance, form, kind]], a verbal noun of [[m|grc|ἰδεῖν|tr=ideîn|t=to see, perceive]], originally the aorist of [[m|grc|εἰδέναι|tr=eidénai|t=to know]].^(Kluge 2011|435)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Greek verb is related to [[wissen]] and to [[m|la|videō|t=to see]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|387)

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+ In Plato the Greek word meant the unchanging archetype of things, and with his philosophy it entered the languages of Europe.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|387) Kluge notes that the step from “an idea of” to “a very little” happened only in German.^(Kluge 2011|435)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch finds the Latin form in German texts from 1524, first as the key term of Plato's doctrine: the archetype behind the deceptive appearances of the world.^(DFWB) Seckendorff in 1685 still writes ''ein concept und ideam von Gott'', with the Latin case ending.^(DFWB)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1642 Descartes widened the Latin word to mean anything the mind perceives directly, and under French influence the German word came to mean “mental image, notion, concept” in the 17th century, in Leibniz and Thomasius.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) In the first half of the 18th century it was sometimes written with the French accent, as in Zinzendorf's sermons.^(DWB|10, 2039)^(DFWB) Herder used it for “opinion”, and Goethe for the leading thought of a work and a plan.^(Pfeifer 1993) Kant restored a Platonic sense, defining an ''Idee'' as a concept of reason to which nothing in the senses corresponds.^(DWB|10, 2039)

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+ Through these uses the philosophical term became an everyday word, meaning a sudden inspiration and, in the 19th century, “a trifle, a little”, probably from “a mere hint of a notion”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|387) The Duden dictionary calls this ''Idee'' the breath of a thought.^(Duden 7 2020|387) The adjectives [[ideal]] and [[ideell]] belong to the same family;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|435) ''ideell'' (about 1800) was formed after the pair ''real'' and ''reell''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|435) Estonian ''idee'' comes from German.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1524 – Latin ''idea'' is first used in a German text.^(DFWB)

+ * 1642 – Descartes uses Latin ''idea'' for whatever the mind perceives.^(DFWB)

+ * 17th century – The German form ''Idee'' appears, in Leibniz and Thomasius.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1747 – Zinzendorf writes ''idée'' with the French accent.^(DWB|10, 2039)

+ * c. 1800 – ''ideell'' is formed.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 19th century – ''eine Idee'' comes to mean “a little”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(philosophy)'' In Plato, the pure [[m|en|archetype]] underlying appearances; more generally, a highly abstract concept of something.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # A guiding idea or [[m|en|ideal]] that shapes someone's thinking and actions: ''Sie glaubte fest an die Idee der Gleichheit.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # A (creative) [[m|en|thought]], notion or good [[m|en|idea]]: ''Ich habe eine bessere Idee.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''eine Idee'': a little, a touch: ''Die Suppe braucht eine Idee mehr Salz.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ideell]]

+ * [[ideal]]

+ * [[Ideal]]

+ * [[Idealismus]]

+ * [[Idealist]]

+ * [[idealistisch]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wissen]]

+ * [[Idol]]

+ * [[Idylle]]

+ * [[Ideologie]]

+ * [[Kaleidoskop]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Eine fixe Idee'' is an idea someone cannot be talked out of, and ''keine Idee von etwas haben'' (colloquial) means not to know the first thing about it.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}