Menge German · revision 35980

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛŋə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Menge''' ''f'' (genitive Menge, plural Mengen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|menige]], [[inh|goh|managī]], [[inh|gem-pro|*managį̄|t=multitude]].^(Kluge 2011|615)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) It is an abstract noun formed to the adjective [[gem-pro|*managaz]] in its old sense “much, many”, which survives as [[manch]], just as [[Länge]] is formed to [[lang]] and [[Höhe]] to [[hoch]].^(Kluge 2011|615)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|557) The same noun is [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌹|tr=managei]], [[osx|menigi]], [[ang|menigu]] and [[ofs|menie]], while Old Norse has the neuter [[m|non|mengi]].^(Kluge 2011|615)^(Pfeifer 1993) Outside Germanic, Kluge compares [[cu|мъножьство|tr=mŭnožĭstvo|t=multitude]] and, built on a simpler base, [[lt|minià|t=crowd]].^(Kluge 2011|615)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''managī'' is first recorded in glosses of the 8th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) Schützeichel finds it in Isidor, the Monsee fragments, the Benedictine Rule, the Muspilli, Otfrid, Tatian and Notker, with the senses “crowd, abundance, multitude, number, host”.^(Schützeichel 2012|214) Otfrid uses it of the crowd from which Christ withdrew, rendering the Vulgate's ''turba''.^(DWB|12, 2006)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The form ''menge'' already occurs in Middle High German, but ''menige'' lasted well into the 16th century, when Luther's use made ''Menge'' the only form.^(DWB|12, 2006) The oldest sense was a gathering of people, a crowd;^(Paul 2002) Goethe used it with a note of contempt, for “the masses”, and a ''Menge'' could also be an armed band, still in Schiller.^(Paul 2002) With a genitive it came to mean a large number (''die Menge der Gottesboten'' in Herder), and as the genitive was no longer felt, ''eine Menge Zuhörer'' appeared (Stieler, 1691); Luther already applied the word to animals and substances.^(Paul 2002) ''Die Menge'' and ''in Menge'' then came to mean “very much, plenty”.^(Paul 2002) In the 19th century it became the term for a set in mathematics, in [[Mengenlehre]] “set theory”, and French ''ensemble'' is recorded in this sense from 1890.^(Paul 2002)^(LWP) [[sv|mängd]] and [[da|mængde]] are formations made under German influence.^(DWB|12, 2006)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''managī'' appears in glosses.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 863–871 – Otfrid uses ''menigī'' of a crowd.^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB|12, 2006)

+ * 16th century – ''Menge'' replaces ''menige'';^(DWB|12, 2006)^(Paul 2002) Luther uses it of animals and substances.^(DWB|12, 2006)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1691 – Stieler records ''eine Menge Zuhörer'' “a lot of listeners”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – ''Menge'' becomes the mathematical term for a set.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A certain [[m|en|quantity]] or [[m|en|amount]]: ''Für das Rezept braucht man die doppelte Menge Zucker.'' Colloquial ''in rauen Mengen'', in very large amounts.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A large number or amount, often with the indefinite article: ''Sie hat in diesem Jahr eine Menge Bücher gelesen.'' Colloquial ''jede Menge'', plenty.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A [[m|en|set]], a collection of distinct elements taken as a whole.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A large number of people close together; a [[m|en|crowd]]: ''Die Menge jubelte, als die Sängerin auf die Bühne kam.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Menschenmenge]]

+ * [[Mengenlehre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[manch]]

+ * [[en|many]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Early New High German had two rarer words spelled ''menge'': a masculine meaning an itinerant dealer or pedlar, from Latin ''mango'' “dealer”, and a plant name for agrimony, shortened from ''Odermennig''.^(DWB|12, 2006)^(FWB)^(DWB|12, 2014)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}