Soldat German · revision 35445

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1521|origins=la solidus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /zɔlˈdaːt/, /sɔlˈdɑːt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austrian: [sɔlˈd̥ɑːt]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Soldat''' ''m'' (genitive Soldaten, plural Soldaten, feminine Soldatin)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|soldato|t=soldier]], literally “one taken into pay”, the past participle used as a noun of [[m|it|soldare|t=to take into pay]], which belongs to [[m|it|soldo|t=coin, pay]] and goes back to [[la|solidus|t=a gold coin]].^(Kluge 2011|856)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|790) Wahrig takes the Italian verb as an older form of [[m|it|assoldare|t=to recruit]].^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch derives the German word instead from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|soldatus]], reached through Italian and French.^(DFWB) The same word is [[nl|soldaat]], [[fr|soldat]] and [[sv|soldat]].^(Kluge 2011|856)

+

+ Middle High German already had [[m|gmh|soldât]], but it meant the pay itself, from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|solidata]], not the man who received it.^(DWB|16, 1439)^(DFWB) The native word for a paid fighter was [[Söldner]], derived from [[Sold]].^(DWB|16, 1436)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch'' records the plural ''Soldaten'' from 1521.^(DFWB) In the earliest uses the word meant a follower or liegeman, especially one of the devil's host: a text of 1522 warns against “the devil and his soldiers”.^(DFWB) Pfeifer gives the early sense as a warrior or retainer in someone's pay.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word first named the paid, recruited fighter, as opposed to the man bound to serve by feudal or territorial law; in the 16th century the common soldiers were still called ''Knechte'' and ''Reisige'', and the new word replaced the older [[Söldner]] and [[Landsknecht]].^(DWB|16, 1436)^(DFWB) A verse in Kirchhof's ''Wendunmuth'' complains that ''Soldat'' and other foreign-sounding names were driving out ''Landsknecht''.^(DWB|16, 1436) The lexicographer Kramer (1702) thought it had come in at the end of the 16th century with Spanish and Italian mercenaries by way of Flanders, which the Grimms' dictionary finds a sound observation for the use of the word for the common soldier.^(DWB|16, 1436)

+

+ With general conscription the link with pay faded from the speakers' minds.^(DWB|16, 1436) Campe still called it a low, though not objectionable, word.^(DWB|16, 1436) It also served for the lowest rank.^(DFWB) Since the 19th century it has also been used figuratively for a champion of an idea.^(DFWB) The profession was long despised, as the pejorative collective [[Soldateska]] shows, but at times, as in the Wilhelmine era and under National Socialism, it was glorified.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) The feminine [[Soldatin]] is recorded from the first half of the 20th century.^(Duden 7 2020|790) In the German Democratic Republic ''Soldat'' was also the lowest rank of the land and air forces, after Russian [[m|ru|солдат|tr=soldat]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1521 – First record, in the plural ''Soldaten''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1522 – Used of the devil's followers.^(DFWB)

+ * 1616 – Hulsius's dictionary has ''soldat zu fusz, zu land, zu wasser''.^(DWB|16, 1436)

+ * Early 17th century – The collective ''Soldateska'' is borrowed from Italian, and soon becomes pejorative.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – The adjective ''soldatisch'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 19th century – Figurative use for a champion of a cause.^(DFWB)

+ * First half of the 20th century – The feminine ''Soldatin'' is recorded.^(Duden 7 2020|790)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|soldier]], a member of a country's [[m|en|armed forces]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(German Democratic Republic)'' The lowest rank of the army and air force, a [[m|en|private]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(zoology)'' Among ants and termites, a usually sterile individual with a large head and strong [[m|en|mandible|alt=mandibles]] that defends the colony.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # The [[m|en|firebug]], a red and black bug (''Pyrrhocoris apterus''); also called [[Feuerwanze]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Soldatin]]

+ * [[soldatisch]]

+ * [[Soldateska]]

+ * [[Zeitsoldat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Sold]]

+ * [[Söldner]]

+ * [[en|soldier]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Bei den Soldaten sein'' is colloquial for serving in the army.^(Duden GWDS 1999) In skat players say ''der wird Soldat'' when they discard a card face down.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The weak declension (genitive ''des Soldaten'') is the rule;^(DWB|16, 1436) Heine's strong genitive ''des Soldats'' and the jocular plural ''Soldatens'' are exceptions.^(DWB|16, 1436)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}