Mehrheit German · revision 35456

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=calque|attested=1558|origins=gem-pro *maiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmeːɐ̯haɪ̯t/, /ˈmɛɐ̯haɪ̯t/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Mehrheit''' ''f'' (genitive Mehrheit, plural Mehrheiten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|de|mehr|-heit]], formed after [[nl|meerderheid|t=majority]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(WGd) Pfeifer says Kramer coined it in 1719 from the Dutch word, and the Duden and Duden's large dictionary add [[fr|majorité]] as a model;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2007)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Wiktionary takes the Dutch word itself as a calque of [[m|fr|pluralité|t=majority]].^(Wiktionary) There was an earlier [[goh|mērheit|t=being more]], but it left no descendants.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|12, 1896)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ [[mehr|alt=Mehr]] is [[gmh|mēr]], [[goh|mēr]], a comparative [[gem-pro|*maiz|t=more]], also in [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍃|tr=mais]], [[non|meir]] and [[ang|mā]], built on the root [[ine-pro|*mē-|t=great, considerable]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2007)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Notker used Old High German ''mērheit'' around 1000, beside ''minnerheit'', for “being more” and “being less”.^(DWB|12, 1896)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|220) The modern word has its first record in Heinrich Bullinger's ''Haußbuoch'' (Zurich, 1558), according to the ZDL word history,^(WGd) while the Grimms and Pfeifer find it first in Kramer's Dutch–German dictionary of 1719: ''mit mehrheit der stimmen etwas beschlieszen'' “to decide something by a majority of votes”.^(DWB|12, 1896)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word at first referred mostly to shares of votes, and so became a central term of politics: the number of votes needed to win.^(WGd) It came into frequent use after the middle of the 18th century, in Klopstock, Möser and Schiller,^(DWB|12, 1896) whose Demetrius asks ''was ist die mehrheit? mehrheit ist der unsinn'' (“what is the majority? the majority is nonsense”).^(DWB|12, 1896) In the 18th century it was also used for the larger number of other things, and by about 1800 for the social group that outnumbers others.^(WGd) Adelung records that some grammarians used it for the plural.^(Adelung 1793) ''Mehrzahl'' and ''Majorität'' are its synonyms from the 18th century on.^(WGd) The phrase ''die schweigende Mehrheit'' is a loan translation of English ''the silent majority''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Notker uses Old High German ''mērheit''.^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB|12, 1896)

+ * 1558 – First record of the modern word, in Bullinger's ''Haußbuoch''.^(WGd)

+ * 1719 – Kramer's dictionary gives ''Mehrheit'' after Dutch ''meerderheit''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|12, 1896)

+ * Mid-18th century – The word comes into common use for majorities of votes.^(DWB|12, 1896)

+ * c. 1800 – It is applied to the larger part of a society.^(WGd)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(no plural)'' The [[m|en|majority]], the greater part of a group: ''Die Mehrheit der Schüler fährt mit dem Bus.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(politics)'' A majority of the votes cast: ''absolute Mehrheit'' (more than half), ''relative'' or ''einfache Mehrheit'' (a [[m|en|plurality]]).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The group that has won the greater part of the votes.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mehr]]

+ * [[mehren]]

+ * [[mehrere]]

+ * [[Mehrzahl]]

+ * [[en|more]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}