Moment German · revision 35851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1254, Rudolf von Ems|origins=la moveō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /moˈmɛnt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Moment''' ''m'' (genitive Momentes or Moments, plural Momente, diminutive Momentchen n or Momenterl n)^(Wiktionary)

+ '''Moment''' ''n'' (genitive Moments, plural Momente): the neuter noun “decisive factor; moment of force”.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|mōmente]], a feminine noun, [[bor|la|mōmentum|t=movement; moment]], from [[m|la|moveō|t=to move]].^(Kluge 2011|631)^(Köbler MHD)^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer leaves open whether the Middle High German word came straight from Latin or through [[fro|moment|t=short space of time]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The masculine gender was taken from [[fr|moment]] when the word was borrowed again in the 17th century.^(Kluge 2011|631)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB) In the sense “moving force, decisive factor” it was borrowed separately from Latin in the 17th century, as a neuter.^(Kluge 2011|631)^(Duden 7 2014|571)^(DFWB) The Latin noun goes back to [[m|la|*movimentum]] and first meant movement, then the extra weight that tips a balance, and hence a decisive moment.^(Duden 7 2014|571)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle High German ''mōmente'' “moment, instant” is found around 1254 in Rudolf von Ems's world chronicle.^(Köbler MHD)^(DFWB) Around 1460 Hans Folz writes ''in eim momente'' “in a moment”, and in 1525 Emser explains that ''momentum'' means not a whole day but a short while.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Middle High German word went out of use, and in the 17th century the masculine word was taken from French, often doubled as ''ein Moment und Augenblick''.^(DWB|12, 2482)^(DFWB) In 1739 Seriander lists it, still pronounced as French, among the foreign words of chancery and commerce, and the French pronunciation lingered into the late 19th century, in Thuringia and Leipzig as ''der momàng''.^(DWB|12, 2482)^(Pfeifer 1993) In the 18th century the sense “point in time” widened to “event, fact”, and Wieland proposed ''Augenblick'' as a German replacement.^(DFWB)

+

+ The neuter ''Moment'' “turning point, decisive weight” was taken from Latin at the end of the 17th century and later weakened to “essential circumstance”; in 1879 Rudolf Hildebrand attacked ''ein neues Moment'' as a fashionable phrase.^(DFWB) In physics it names the effect of a force about a point, as in Kant's ''das Moment ihrer Anspannung'' (1747) and in [[Drehmoment]].^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1254 – Rudolf von Ems uses Middle High German ''mōmente''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * c. 1460 – Hans Folz writes ''in eim momente''.^(DFWB)

+ * 1654 – ''ein moment und Augenblick'' shows the masculine word borrowed from French.^(DFWB)

+ * 1698 – First record of the neuter ''Moment'' “decisive factor”.^(DFWB)

+ * 1739 – Seriander records ''Moment'' with French pronunciation.^(DWB|12, 2482)

+ * 1747 – Kant uses the neuter in mechanics.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine)'' A [[m|en|moment]], a very short space of time: ''Warte bitte einen Moment!'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''im Moment'', at present.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A point in time: ''der passende Moment'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''jeden Moment'', at any moment;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Moment mal!'', wait a minute.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(neuter)'' A decisive [[m|en|factor]], circumstance or feature: ''das erregende Moment'', the scene of a play that leads into the conflict.^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(neuter, physics)'' A moment, the product of two quantities one of which is usually a force: ''das Drehmoment''.^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[momentan]]

+ * [[Drehmoment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|moment]]

+ * [[en|momentum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The masculine ''der Moment'' “instant” and the neuter ''das Moment'' “factor; moment of force” share their Latin source but were borrowed at different times and through different routes.^(Kluge 2011|631)^(Paul 2002) Schiller and Goethe also used the neuter in the time sense.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}