Niederlage German · revision 35514

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1275–1300, Väterbuch}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈniːdɐˌlaːɡə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Niederlage''' ''f'' (genitive Niederlage, plural Niederlagen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|niderlāge|t=a lying down; a stopping place; a defeat]], a noun to [[niederlegen]], originally “the act of laying or lying down”.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)^(Adelung 1793|3, 495) Its parts are [[nieder]] and [[m|gmh|lāge|t=a lying, position]], which belongs to [[liegen]].^(Köbler MHD) The Middle Low German form was [[m|gml|nedderlāge]].^(DWB|13, 769)

+

+ The verb [[legen]], [[goh|leggen]], is [[gem-pro|*lagjaną|t=to lay]], the causative of the verb for lying, from [[ine-pro|*legʰ-|t=to lie]]; the same verb is [[got|𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=lagjan]], [[non|leggja]] and [[ang|lecgan]], continued in [[en|lay]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler MHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle High German ''niderlāge'' is first recorded in the Väterbuch (1275–1300).^(Köbler MHD) Its Middle High German senses were the act of lying or sinking down, as in a faint, a stopping place or stay, rest, and the slaughter of an enemy.^(Lexer 1872|2, 72)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler MHD) Paul dates the merchants' sense “place where goods are deposited” to the 13th century.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early New High German used it above all for the storing of goods, the right to keep a depot, the depot or trading post itself and the fee paid for it, and also for a lodging or night's rest.^(FWB) The Grimms' dictionary records the sense “stopping place, lodging” from 1444 to Lessing and Freytag, and “being bedridden by illness” into the 19th century.^(DWB|13, 769)^(Paul 2002)

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+ The sense “defeat in battle”, recorded from 1456, became the dominant one.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|13, 769) Adelung still gives the defeat of an army, being bedridden and a warehouse side by side.^(Adelung 1793|3, 495) The commercial sense survives in “depot, especially for beer” and a dated “branch shop”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1275–1300 – First record, in the Väterbuch.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 13th century – First record of the sense “depot for goods”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1444 – A town chronicle uses it for a stopping place.^(DWB|13, 769)

+ * 1456 – First record of the sense “defeat in battle”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|defeat]]: being beaten in a battle, a contest or a dispute.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|depot]] or intermediate store, especially for beer.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(dated)'' A [[m|en|branch]] shop.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[niederlegen]]

+ * [[legen]]

+ * [[liegen]]

+ * [[Lager]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Eine kannensische Niederlage'' (educated usage) is a crushing defeat, after Hannibal's annihilation of a Roman army at Cannae in 216 BC.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}