Zeit German · revision 35863

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [t͡saɪ̯t]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Zeit''' ''f'' (genitive Zeit, plural Zeiten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zīt]], [[inh|goh|zīt]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*tīdi]], [[inh|gem-pro|*tīdiz|t=time]].^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[non|tíð]], [[ang|tīd]], [[ofs|tīd]], [[osx|tīd]], [[nl|tijd]] and [[sv|tid]];^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Paul 2002) Gothic lacks it.^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Paul 2002) In English and Low German it also took on the sense of the tides: [[en|tide]] and [[nds|Tide]].^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Duden 7 2020|947) A parallel formation with an “-m-” suffix is [[non|tími]], [[m|ang|tīma]], the source of [[m|en|time]], and [[gsw|zīmə]], so that Kluge sets up a Germanic base [[m|gem-pro|*tī-]].^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Its further origin is disputed.^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge compares an Armenian word for “age, time” and then a pronominal stem [[ine-pro|*d-]] specialised for time, with extensions meaning “day”, “time” and “long”, as in [[la|diū|t=for a long time]] and [[got|𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍉|tr=sinteinō|t=always]].^(Kluge 2011|1005) Pfeifer, the Duden dictionary and Wahrig instead derive it, in the sense “something divided off, a section”, from the zero grade of the root [[ine-pro|*dā(i)-|t=to divide, cut up]], also found in [[grc|δαίομαι|alt=δαίεσθαι|tr=daíesthai|t=to divide]] and [[m|grc|δῆμος|tr=dêmos|t=people, district]], and in German [[Teil]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|947)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Wiktionary gives the Indo-European form as [[m|ine-pro|*déh₂itis]], a noun in [[m|ine-pro|*-tis]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ Old High German and Middle High German use it as a feminine and as a neuter.^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Isidor has a form “ziidh” with grammatical change.^(DWB|31, 521)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''zīt'' is recorded from the 8th century, in glosses from 765 and then in the Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Kluge 2011|1005)^(Köbler AHD) It meant time in general, an age or period, a point in time, a lifetime, a season, an hour, the right time, and the hours of prayer or the time of fasting.^(Schützeichel 2012|408)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul puts first the sense of a definite moment within the course of events, which survives in many phrases: ''zur rechten Zeit'', ''von Zeit zu Zeit'', ''alles hat seine Zeit'' (from the Bible), and adverbs made from old cases, such as ''derzeit'', ''jederzeit'' and ''allezeit''.^(Paul 2002) From the sense “the right moment for something” comes ''es ist Zeit'', in which ''Zeit'' was at first a genitive.^(Paul 2002) ''Beizeiten'' “in good time”, Middle High German ''bezīte'', keeps an old case form that was no longer felt as a plural.^(Paul 2002)

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+ Middle High German used it for an age of life, life itself, the season, the time of day, the hour and the canonical hours.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler MHD) Adelung around 1800 set the philosophical sense, the succession of finite things opposed to eternity, apart from the everyday senses of a period, a duration and a point in time.^(Adelung 1793|4, 1675) The strong plural forms gave way to the weak plural ''Zeiten'' in the New High German period, though they lasted into the 16th century.^(DWB|31, 521) Hebrew took ''Zeitgeist'' and ''Zeitnot'' from German.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Late 8th century – The Isidor has the variant ''ziidh''.^(DWB|31, 521)

+ * 10th century – The adjective ''zītīg'' “timely, early ripe” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – The old strong plural forms still appear beside the weak plural ''Zeiten''.^(DWB|31, 521)

+ * 16th century – ''Zeitgenosse'' “contemporary” is formed.^(Duden 7 2020|947)

+ * 18th century – ''Zeitalter'' “age, era” is formed.^(Duden 7 2020|947)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|time]], the steady succession of moments, hours, days and years: ''Am Wochenende vergeht die Zeit viel zu schnell.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A point in time or a limited [[m|en|period]]: ''die Zeit der Weinlese''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # Time available for something: ''Hast du heute Nachmittag Zeit?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # An [[m|en|era]], a period of the past: ''in der Zeit der Romantik''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The time of day, short for [[Uhrzeit]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # A period of service, a [[m|en|stint]], as in the army.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(grammar)'' [[m|en|tense]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zeit]]

+ * [[zeitlich]]

+ * [[zeitig]]

+ * [[zeitigen]]

+ * [[derzeit]]

+ * [[jederzeit]]

+ * [[zurzeit]]

+ * [[beizeiten]]

+ * [[Zeitalter]]

+ * [[Zeitgenosse]]

+ * [[Zeitgeist]]

+ * [[Zeitlose]]

+ * [[Zeitpunkt]]

+ * [[Zeitraum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Gezeiten]]

+ * [[Tide]]

+ * [[Zeitung]]

+ * [[Zeile]]

+ * [[Teil]]

+ * [[en|time]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The preposition ''zeit'', a fossilised accusative, survives only in ''zeit meines Lebens'' and the like, “all my life”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) The proverb ''Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat'' says that a way out will be found in time.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}