erstmals German · revision 35211

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1378/79, Ernst von Kirchberg}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''erstmals'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a fusion [[af|de|erst|-mals]] of the ordinal and [[Mal|t=time, occasion]].^(DWB2|8, 2222)^(Wiktionary) The ending is the old genitive of the noun, kept in adverbs of this kind such as [[ehemals]] (from a Middle High German phrase meaning “before the time”), [[abermals]] (15th century), [[jemals]] and [[oftmals]].^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The noun continues [[goh|māl]], from [[gem-pro|*mēlą|t=measure, point in time]];^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer traces it to the root [[ine-pro|*meh₁-|t=to measure]], with the sense “point in time” developed from “marked point in space”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the chronicle of Ernst von Kirchberg (1378/79), meaning “for the first time”: Cyprian is said to be the first to mention the ''lectores''.^(DWB2|8, 2222)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the late 15th century the word also meant “at first, initially”, and in the 16th century it was used in both senses, as in the German Boccaccio and the ''Buch der Liebe''.^(DWB2|8, 2222)^(DWB|3, 1017) Modern German uses it only for something that happens for the first time.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1378/79 – First record, in Ernst von Kirchberg's chronicle.^(DWB2|8, 2222)

+ * About 1460 – Used in Cammermeister's chronicle.^(DWB2|8, 2222)

+ * 1480/81 – First record of the sense “at first”.^(DWB2|8, 2222)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # For the first time: ''das Stück wird erstmals in Graz aufgeführt''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[erstmalig]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[erste]]

+ * [[einmal]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}