Bedeutung German · revision 35324

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1190, Lucidarius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bəˈdɔʏ̯tʊŋ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Bedeutung''' ''f'' (genitive Bedeutung, plural Bedeutungen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|bediutunge|t=interpretation]],^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Köbler MHD) formed [[af|de|bedeuten|-ung]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) That verb is [[goh|bithiuten|t=to mean, signify]] (11th century), [[gmh|bediuten]], beside [[dum|bedieden]] and [[ofs|bithiōda]]; it was formed with [[be-]] from [[deuten]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB2|4, 412)

+

+ The simple verb is [[goh|diuten]], [[gmh|diuten|alt=diuten]], the same verb as [[nl|duiden]], [[ang|geþīedan|t=to translate]] and [[non|þýða|t=to interpret]].^(Kluge 2011|194)^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer, like Köbler, takes it as a verb formed from [[gem-pro|*þeudō|t=people]], the word behind [[deutsch]], meaning “to make clear to the people”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler MHD) Kluge notes that the verb often meant “to say in the vernacular”, as in the Old High German phrase [[m|goh|zi diuta|t=in the vernacular]] (9th century), so that it was felt to belong to [[goh|diot|t=people]], but he denies that it can be derived from it in meaning; he points out that the base of that adjective also meant “strength”, and that strength often gives words for meaning, as in [[grc|δύναμις|tr=dúnamis|t=power; meaning]] and [[la|vīs|t=force; meaning]].^(Kluge 2011|194)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle High German ''bediutunge'' “meaning, sense, interpretation” is first recorded in the ''Lucidarius'' (1190–1195).^(Köbler MHD) In Jansen Enikel's world chronicle (about 1280) a dream is called ''ein bediutunge'' that a young king will come, that is, a sign of things to come.^(DWB2|4, 421)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of omen, later expressed by ''Vorbedeutung'', lasted long: in 1473 Steinhöwel lists the signs of certain death, and in 1584 a portent is called ''eine bedeutung des kriegs''.^(DWB2|4, 421) The word also meant the interpretation of a dream or a word, as in Luther's Genesis 40:5, a sense now taken by ''Deutung''.^(DWB|1, 1230) Early New High German used it for the meaning of a word, a name, a text or a sign.^(FWB)

+

+ The senses “significance, weight” appear in Kant, Schiller and Goethe.^(DWB|1, 1230) Adelung records both the concept a word expresses and importance, as in ''ein Mann von Bedeutung''.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1190–1195 – ''bediutunge'' in the ''Lucidarius''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * c. 1280 – ''bediutunge'' “portent” in Jansen Enikel.^(DWB2|4, 421)

+ * 1473 – Steinhöwel speaks of the ''betütung'' of a disease.^(DWB2|4, 421)

+ * 1793 – Adelung records the sense “importance”.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|sense]] that lies in an action, an event or a thing: ''Sie fragte nach der Bedeutung des Traums.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|meaning]] of a word or sign, the content expressed by it: ''Das Wort „Schloss“ hat mehrere Bedeutungen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|importance]], consequence: ''Die Entscheidung ist für die Region von großer Bedeutung.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Standing, [[m|en|prestige]]: ''ein Maler von Bedeutung''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedeutungslos]]

+ * [[bedeutungsvoll]]

+ * [[Bedeutungswandel]]

+ * [[Bedeutungslehre]]

+ * [[Grundbedeutung]]

+ * [[Nebenbedeutung]]

+ * [[Lehnbedeutung]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bedeuten]]

+ * [[deuten]]

+ * [[Deutung]]

+ * [[deutsch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}