grün German · revision 35649

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *gʰreh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡʁyːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''grün''' (strong nominative masculine singular grüner, comparative grüner, superlative am grünsten)^(Wiktionary)

+ Forms without umlaut, such as ''gruen'', were also written in Alemannic in older New High German and survive in dialect nouns for young shoots.^(DWB|9, 640)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|grüene]], [[inh|goh|gruoni]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*grōnī]], [[inh|gem-pro|*grōniz|t=green]].^(Kluge 2011|378)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA|4, 667) The same adjective is [[osx|grōni]], [[gml|grȫne]], [[ofs|grēne]], [[ang|grēne]] and [[non|grœnn]], continued in [[nl|groen]], [[en|green]] and [[sv|grön]].^(Kluge 2011|378)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) It is found only in West and North Germanic.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|9, 640)

+

+ It is derived with an /n/ suffix from the verb [[gem-pro|*grōaną|t=to grow]], strong in [[m|non|gróa]] and [[m|ang|grōwan]], the source of [[en|grow]], and weak in [[goh|gruoen|t=to grow, flourish]] and [[gmh|grüejen]], so its first meaning was “growing”.^(Kluge 2011|378)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|4, 664) That verb was already being displaced in Middle High German by [[grünen]].^(EWA|4, 664) Duden allows that the adjective may instead first have meant “grass-coloured”.^(Duden 7 2014) Pfeifer traces the verb to the root [[ine-pro|*gʰer(ə)-|t=to stick out]], used of shoots, bristles and edges, and connects it with [[Gras]], [[Granne]], [[Grat]] and [[Gräte]].^(Pfeifer 1993) Kroonen and Wiktionary reconstruct the adjective as [[m|ine-pro|*gʰroh₁-nis]], from [[m|ine-pro|*gʰreh₁-|t=to grow, become green]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''gruoni'' is recorded from the 8th century, in glosses from 765 and in the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|4, 667)^(Schützeichel 2012|134) It meant “green” and also “fresh, new, recently obtained”, glossing Latin ''viridis'', ''virens'', ''recens'' and ''crudus''.^(EWA|4, 667)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the colour, ''grün'' has long meant “fresh, not dried”, as in ''grüne Bohnen'' and ''grüne Ware'' “fresh vegetables” (1678), and “raw, not smoked or salted”, as of herring.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) As the colour of unripe fruit it came to mean “immature, inexperienced” in Early New High German, whence [[Grünschnabel]] “greenhorn” in the 18th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014) ''Auf keinen grünen Zweig kommen'' “to get nowhere” is recorded in 1520, at first without the negative.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ As the colour of spring, green stood for joy already in Middle High German, but for hope only in New High German, not before Opitz, while in the Middle Ages it was also the colour of envy, the devil and poison.^(Paul 2002) ''Jemandem nicht grün sein'' “to bear someone ill will”, used by Luther, probably belongs here.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014) The green of traffic lights gave ''grünes Licht geben'' after English ''to give the green light''.^(Paul 2002) In the second half of the 20th century ''grün'' took on the sense “ecological”: the farm programme ''Grüner Plan'' dates from 1956, the party name ''Die Grünen'' from 1980, and ''Rot-Grün'' for a coalition with the Social Democrats was the Word of the Year in 1998.^(Duden 7 2014)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 765 – Old High German ''gruoni'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1520 – First record of ''auf einen grünen Zweig kommen''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1678 – ''Grüne Ware'' is recorded for fresh vegetables.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – ''Grünschnabel'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1956 – The agricultural ''Grüner Plan'' is named.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1980 – ''Die Grünen'' becomes a party name.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1998 – ''Rot-Grün'' is the German Word of the Year.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|green]], of the colour of fresh grass and leaves: ''Im Mai sind die Wiesen saftig grün.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Not yet ripe, [[m|en|unripe]]: ''grüne Tomaten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Fresh and full of sap, not yet dried: ''grünes Holz''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Raw, not smoked, salted or dried: ''grüner Hering''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(often derogatory)'' [[m|en|inexperienced]], immature.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(politics)'' Belonging to or concerning a green party.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|environmentally friendly]], committed to protecting the environment.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Grün]]

+ * [[grünen]]

+ * [[Grünkohl]]

+ * [[grünlich]]

+ * [[Grünschnabel]]

+ * [[Grünspecht]]

+ * [[Gründonnerstag]]

+ * [[Grünspan]]

+ * [[Grünling]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Gras]]

+ * [[Granne]]

+ * [[Grat]]

+ * [[Grummet]]

+ * [[en|green]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Jemandem nicht grün sein'' (colloquial) is to dislike someone, ''sich grün und blau ärgern'' is to be furious, and ''dasselbe in Grün'' (colloquial) means “practically the same thing”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Alles im grünen Bereich'' “everything under control” comes from instruments that mark the normal range green and the danger range red.^(Duden 7 2014) The noun das [[Grün]] also names the green of a golf course and the suit of leaves in German playing cards.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}