Liga German · revision 35664

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=15th century|origins=la ligō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈliːɡa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Liga''' ''f'' (genitive Liga, plural Ligen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|liga|t=alliance, league]], from [[m|es|ligar|t=to bind, unite]], from [[la|ligō|t=to bind, tie]].^(Kluge 2011|578)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) It came into use in the 15th century as a name for Catholic alliances.^(Kluge 2011|578)^(Duden 7 2020) Wiktionary also names [[it|lega]] as a source,^(Wiktionary) and the FWB, whose quotations date from 1579 and 1616, derives the Early New High German word from [[fr|ligue]].^(FWB)

+

+ The word is also [[nl|liga]], [[sv|liga]] and [[no|liga]], while English has [[m|en|league]].^(Kluge 2011|578) The French and English forms are recorded from the 15th century.^(DFWB) It is related to [[legieren]] and [[Ligatur]].^(Kluge 2011|578)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the 15th century ''Liga'' meant an alliance or league, especially a confessional one of Catholic powers.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|578) The Zimmern Chronicle has ''do gab es ain rechten ligam'' “then there was a real league”, and Albertinus uses the word in 1599.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was known above all as the name of political and confessional alliances: the Holy League of 1538, after Italian ''lega santa'', and the Catholic League of 1609, the union of almost all the Catholic estates of the Empire against the Protestant Union, which fought in the Thirty Years' War.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Dictionaries listed it from 1709, Wächtler as ''Ligue'' and Hübner as ''Liga''.^(DFWB) Later [[Allianz]] and [[Koalition]] pushed it aside, but it was taken up again in modern times, as in the Arab League of 1945, after English ''Arab League''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ In sport ''Liga'' has named a division of clubs grouped by performance since the end of the 19th century, mostly in compounds such as [[Oberliga]] and [[Bundesliga]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Paul notes that this sense was entered in the Sprach-Brockhaus of 1944.^(Paul 2002) The German word was borrowed into Polish, Czech, Russian, Hungarian, Slovene and Swedish.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 15th century – Borrowed from Spanish as a name for Catholic alliances.^(Kluge 2011|578)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1538 – The Holy League, after Italian ''lega santa''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1579 – First quotation in the FWB.^(FWB)

+ * 1599 – Albertinus uses the word.^(DFWB)

+ * 1609 – The Catholic League is formed against the Protestant Union.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1709 – First entered in dictionaries.^(DFWB)

+ * End of the 19th century – First use for a division in sport.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1944 – The sporting sense is entered in the Sprach-Brockhaus.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1945 – The Arab League is founded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|league]], an [[m|en|alliance]] or association with political or ideological aims: ''die Arabische Liga'', ''die Liga für Menschenrechte''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # ''(sports)'' A [[m|en|division]] in which qualified club teams of a region compete: ''Die Mannschaft ist in die dritte Liga aufgestiegen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Bundesliga]]

+ * [[Oberliga]]

+ * [[Kreisliga]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[legieren]]

+ * [[Ligatur]]

+ * [[en|league]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}