endlich German · revision 35472

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1150, König Rother}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɛntlɪç/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''endlich''' (strong nominative masculine singular endlicher, not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|endelich]], formed [[af|de|Ende|-lich]].^(DWB2|8, 1302)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) The same formation is [[gml|endelik]], [[dum|endelijc]] and [[nl|eindelijk]].^(DWB2|8, 1302) Middle High German usually made the adverb as [[m|gmh|endelîchen]], a form found here and there until the later 18th century.^(DWB2|8, 1302) The opposite [[unendlich]] is recorded earlier, as Notker's [[goh|unentlîch]] before 1022.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+

+ The noun [[Ende]] is [[m|goh|enti]], from [[gem-pro|*andijaz|t=end]], also in [[got|𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃|tr=andeis]] and [[ang|ende]].^(Kluge 2011|245)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In ''König Rother'' (1150/60) ''endeliche'' means “quickly”, and the earliest senses of the word are “quick, active, diligent, persistent”.^(DWB2|8, 1302)^(FWB) Early New High German still used it so: in ''Till Eulenspiegel'' a man ''was endlich'', quick to act, and Luther calls the Swiss ''endlich und hurtig''.^(DWB|3, 462)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Next to this, the word meant “certain, fixed” and “definitive, final”, especially in law: the Carolina of 1532 speaks of an ''endlich'' sentence.^(DWB2|8, 1302)^(DWB|3, 464) The adverb came to mean “in the end, at last”, and then “at last” of something long awaited or feared, as in the Nibelungenlied (about 1220) and Luther's Bible.^(DWB2|8, 1302)^(DWB|3, 464) The active sense was listed as obsolete or little used from the middle of the 18th century.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+

+ From the 14th century, in a translation of Thomas Aquinas, the adjective also means “limited, not infinite”, of beings that are mortal; since the late 17th century it has also been used of quantities, especially in mathematics.^(DWB2|8, 1302) This is now the main sense of the adjective, while in everyday language ''endlich'' is mostly an adverb.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1022 – Notker uses the opposite ''unentlîch''.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+ * 1150/60 – ''endeliche'' “quickly” in ''König Rother''.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+ * c. 1220 – The Nibelungenlied uses the adverb for “in the end”.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+ * 14th century – First record of the sense “finite, limited”.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+ * 1532 – The Carolina uses ''endlich'' for a final legal decision.^(DWB|3, 464)

+ * 1699 – A German Euclid speaks of an ''endliche flaͤche'', a finite surface.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+ * Mid-18th century – The sense “quick, diligent” is listed as obsolete.^(DWB2|8, 1302)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # At [[m|en|last]], [[m|en|finally]]: after a long wait or delay: ''Der Zug ist endlich angekommen.'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Na endlich!'' (colloquial) “about time!”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In the end, [[m|en|eventually]]: ''Am Ende mussten wir endlich einsehen, dass es nicht ging.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(technical)'' [[m|en|finite]]: limited in space, time or number: ''eine endliche Menge''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[unendlich]]

+ * [[Endlichkeit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Ende]]

+ * [[enden]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}