Linie German · revision 35444

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=11th century, Old High German glosses|origins=la līnum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈliːni̯ə/, [ˈliː.ni.ə], [ˈliːn.jə]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Linie''' ''f'' (genitive Linie, plural Linien)^(Wiktionary)

+ Until the 17th century it was also written ''linge'', ''linig'' or ''lenie''; the learned spelling ''linie'' won out in writing.^(DWB|12, 1039)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|linie]], [[bor|la|līnea|t=linen thread, string; line]], the noun use of the feminine of [[m|la|līneus|t=of flax, linen]], from [[m|la|līnum|t=flax; thread]].^(Kluge 2011|579)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|514) In Latin the word first named the stretched linen cord with which straight lines were drawn, and then the line itself.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Corresponding words are [[nl|lijn]], [[en|line]], [[fr|ligne]] and [[sv|linje]].^(Kluge 2011|579)

+

+ An early borrowing appears in Old High German glosses as [[m|goh|linna]], from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|linea]], with a diminutive [[m|goh|linnol]].^(EWA|5, 1318)^(AWB|5, 1020) Kluge and Duden treat it as the ancestor of the modern word.^(Kluge 2011|579)^(Duden 7 2020|514) Wiktionary holds instead that the Old High German loan was not continued and that the Middle High German word was borrowed anew.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''linna'' is recorded only from the 11th century, in glosses, where it renders Latin ''linea'' as a boundary line (in Prudentius) and a line of writing (in Jerome's preface to Daniel).^(AWB|5, 1020)^(Köbler AHD) Pfeifer dates it to about 1000.^(Pfeifer 1993) Middle High German ''linie'' appears in the Minnesang, the ''Passional'' and the mystics, meaning a line, a row or a line of descent.^(Lexer 1872|1, 1927)^(Köbler MHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the idea of keeping a direction, ''Linie'' came to mean a guiding rule already in Middle High German, the source of ''politische Linie'' and [[Parteilinie]].^(Paul 2002) Josua Maaler (1561) has the mathematical sense, a length without breadth.^(Paul 2002) From the genealogical lines drawn in family trees it came to mean a line of descent in the 16th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) Sailors called the equator ''die Linie'' (1629), short for the equinoctial line, whence the ceremony of the [[Linientaufe]].^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) In the 18th century it became a military word for the battle line of an army or fleet, and the front.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ As a unit of length, a tenth or twelfth of an inch, it was used from the 18th century until the metric system replaced it.^(Paul 2002) In sport it is the boundary line, and ''Linienrichter'' (1903) was formed after English ''linesmen''.^(Paul 2002) Colloquially ''auf die schlanke Linie achten'' (1938) is to watch one's figure.^(Paul 2002) Other senses grew from the line as a route: a regular transport route and the vehicles that serve it.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The verb [[linieren]] goes back to 1469.^(DFWB) Czech ''linie'' and Slovak ''línia'' were borrowed from German, and English took over ''Siegfried Line'' and ''Benrath line''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1000 – Old High German ''linna'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 11th century – ''linna'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(AWB|5, 1020)

+ * End of the 13th century – Middle High German ''linie'' in the ''Passional''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 1469 – First record of the verb ''liniieren''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1561 – Maaler records the mathematical sense.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – Sense “line of descent”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1629 – Sailors' sense “equator”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – Military sense “battle line, front”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Early 19th century – The adjective ''linear'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1903 – ''Linienrichter'' is formed after English ''linesmen''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|line]], a longer straight or curved [[m|en|stroke]] that is drawn or visible: ''die Linien eines Hefts''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A continuous one-dimensional figure without breadth.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # ''(sport)'' A marking or [[m|en|boundary]] line.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # An [[m|en|outline]], a contour;^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''(colloquial, jocular)'' one's figure: ''auf die schlanke Linie achten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # An imagined line connecting places;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''(nautical)'' the [[m|en|equator]];^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''(chess)'' a [[m|en|file]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A row: ''in einer Linie stehen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(military)'' The [[m|en|front]], the zone of the troops' positions.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A regular route of public transport, or the vehicles serving it: ''die Linie 5''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A line of [[m|en|descent]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # The general direction or policy followed in a plan or behaviour.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(formerly)'' A small unit of length.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[linieren]]

+ * [[linear]]

+ * [[-linig]]

+ * [[geradlinig]]

+ * [[Richtlinie]]

+ * [[Parteilinie]]

+ * [[Luftlinie]]

+ * [[Linientaufe]]

+ * [[Linienrichter]]

+ * [[Mittellinie]]

+ * [[Buslinie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Lein]]

+ * [[Lineal]]

+ * [[en|line]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''In erster Linie'' “first and foremost” and ''auf einer Linie stehen'' “to rank equal” come from the older sense of a line as a value or position in a reckoning.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}