Truppe German · revision 36124

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1603|origins=la-med troppus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtʁʊpə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Truppe''' ''f'' (genitive Truppe, plural Truppen)^(Wiktionary)

+ Early spellings include ''Troppe'', ''Trouppe'' and, perhaps under Italian influence, ''Truppa''.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|troupe|t=group of people; body of soldiers]], borrowed at the beginning of the 17th century as a military word, separately from [[Trupp]], which comes from the same French noun and was taken over at about the same time.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|878)^(DFWB)^(Kluge 2011|933) The German noun keeps the feminine gender of the French word.^(Duden 7 2020|878)

+

+ The French word is a back-formation from [[fro|tropel|t=crowd, band; herd]] and goes back to Gallo-Romance and [[la-med|troppus|t=herd]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|933) Its further origin is uncertain.^(Duden 7 2007)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Pfeifer and Wiktionary derive it from [[frk|*þorp]], related to [[Dorf]], comparing [[non|þorp]] in the sense “crowd, band”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Kluge and Duden follow Bursch's derivation from a verb based on [[la|pēs|t=foot]], “to measure off by the foot”, whence “to divide” and “division”, and then “herd”.^(Kluge 2011|933)^(Duden 7 2020|878)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A plural ''troppen'' in a chronicle of the siege of Neuss (1474) is an isolated and doubtful early record.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) The word is established from the early 17th century: in 1603 a writer speaks of ''feindtlichen Laͤgern oder troupen'' “enemy camps or troops”.^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first ''Truppe'' was used mostly in the plural, as in French, for larger bodies of soldiers and for the units of a particular arm; from the second half of the 19th century the singular ''die Truppe'' also meant the army as a whole, especially the fighting forces at the front.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) It forms many compounds, such as ''Kampftruppe'', ''Elitetruppe'' and ''Truppenteil''.^(DFWB)

+

+ From the first half of the 17th century the word was also used of any group of people or animals, and in the second half of the 18th century, after French, of a company of actors or acrobats.^(Pfeifer 1993) Today it is also used of a sports team.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) The colloquial ''von der schnellen Truppe sein'' means to do things very, or too, quickly.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1474 – An isolated plural ''troppen'' in a chronicle of the siege of Neuss.^(DFWB)

+ * 1603 – ''troupen'' “troops” is recorded.^(DFWB)

+ * Mid-17th century – ''Vortruppe'' “vanguard” appears.^(DFWB)

+ * Second half of the 18th century – ''Truppe'' is used of a company of actors.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Second half of the 19th century – ''die Truppe'' “the fighting forces” in the singular.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A military unit; in the plural, [[m|en|troop|alt=troops]] or forces: ''Truppen abziehen'', to withdraw troops.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(singular)'' The fighting forces at the front, the army in action: ''zurück zur Truppe''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|troupe]] of actors, acrobats or other performers; also a sports [[m|en|team]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Truppenteil]]

+ * [[Kampftruppe]]

+ * [[Schutztruppe]]

+ * [[Theatertruppe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Trupp]]

+ * [[Dorf]]

+ * [[en|troop]]

+ * [[en|troupe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Von der schnellen Truppe sein'' (colloquial) is to be very quick about something, often too quick.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}