Abschluss German · revision 35608

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1727}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈapˌʃlʊs/, [ˈʔapˌʃlʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Abschluss''' ''m'' (genitive Abschlusses, plural Abschlüsse)^(Wiktionary)

+ Until the spelling reform of 1996 the word was written ''Abschluß''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the noun of the verb [[abschließen]], analysable as [[af|de|ab-|Schluss]].^(Wiktionary)^(Paul 2002) The verb has a Middle Low German counterpart [[m|gml|afsluten]], and appears in High German in the 16th century, but became common only in the 18th.^(Paul 2002) [[Schluss]] is the abstract noun of [[schließen]] (Middle High German [[m|gmh|sliezen]], Old High German [[m|goh|sliozan]]), which Kluge compares, without its initial /s/, with [[la|claudō|t=to close]].^(Kluge 2011|811)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Paul dates ''Abschluß'' to 1727, used in the senses of the verb “to bring to an end, especially an account or a contract” and “to end, round off”.^(Paul 2002) Adelung defines it as the ending or settling of a matter, especially of an account, a business deal or a contract.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Campe gives the same senses, and notes that the noun is used only figuratively, not for the act of locking something.^(Campe 1807) Goethe used it often, especially in ''zum Abschluss kommen'' and ''zum Abschluss bringen'', and sometimes moved it close to “completion, rounding off”, setting it beside ''Vollendung''.^(GWB)

+

+ The modern language added a concrete sense, a seal or closure, and the part that finishes something off, such as the border of a dress.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Commerce uses it for the closing of the accounts and for a business deal, sport for a shot at goal that ends a move, and everyday speech for a final examination or the qualification it gives.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Polish borrowed it as ''abszlus'' “closing of accounts” (1847), a word now obsolete.^(LWP)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1727 – First record of ''Abschluß''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1793 – Adelung records it for the settling of accounts and contracts.^(Adelung 1793)

+ * 1847 – Polish ''abszlus'' “closing of accounts” is recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 1996 – The spelling reform replaces ''Abschluß'' with ''Abschluss''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|seal]] or closure: ''ein wasserdichter Abschluss''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A finishing part or [[m|en|border]], as on a garment or a wall.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(no plural)'' End, [[m|en|conclusion]]: ''nach Abschluss der Bauarbeiten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(business)'' The closing of the accounts, the [[m|en|balance sheet]] with the profit and loss account.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(ball games)'' A shot at goal that ends a move.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A final examination, or the qualification it gives, as from a school or university: ''Sie hat einen Abschluss in Chemie.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(no plural)'' The concluding of an agreement: ''beim Abschluss des Abkommens''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(commerce)'' A business [[m|en|deal]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A wage agreement, short for [[Tarifabschluss]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Abschlussprüfung]]

+ * [[Abschlussarbeit]]

+ * [[Abschlussfeier]]

+ * [[Abschlussbericht]]

+ * [[Tarifabschluss]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Anschluss]]

+ * [[Aufschluss]]

+ * [[Ausschluss]]

+ * [[Beschluss]]

+ * [[Einschluss]]

+ * [[Zusammenschluss]]

+ * [[Verschluss]]

+ * [[abschließen]]

+ * [[Schluss]]

+ * [[schließen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Zum Abschluss kommen'' is to come to an end, and ''etwas zum Abschluss bringen'' to finish something.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}