Finale German · revision 36131

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1567, as Final|origins=la fīnis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fiˈnaːlə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Finale''' ''n'' (genitive Finales or Finals, plural Finale or Finals)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|finale|t=end, finale]], from [[la|fīnālis|t=at the end, concerning the boundaries]], a derivative of [[m|la|fīnis|t=end, boundary]].^(Kluge 2011|295)^(Duden 7 2014|285)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Pfeifer notes that the Italian word is only certain from the 18th century and suggests that the German one may instead come directly from the neuter of the Latin adjective, used as a noun; the Italian musical term would then have spread it.^(Pfeifer 1993) The revised Grimm dictionary and the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch also take it from Latin [[m|la|fīnālis|alt=fīnāle]] or from Italian.^(DWB2|9, 493)^(DFWB) It was first borrowed in the short form [[Final]].^(Kluge 2011|295)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The sports sense came in the 20th century: Kluge, the revised Grimm dictionary and Wiktionary see the influence of [[en|final]], Duden perhaps French.^(Kluge 2011|295)^(DWB2|9, 493)^(Wiktionary)^(Duden 7 2014|285) The same word is [[nl|finale]] and [[en|finale]].^(Kluge 2011|295)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The revised Grimm dictionary has an early record in a 16th-century copy of the Limburg Chronicle, from the 14th century, which says that the singers sang ''in dem final des sanges'' “in the final part of the song”.^(DWB2|9, 493) As a musical term ''final'', the closing part of a piece, is recorded from 1567;^(DWB2|9, 493)^(Kluge 2011|295) Kluge first finds the word with the meaning “final letter”.^(DWB2|9, 493)^(Kluge 2011|295)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 18th century only the form ''final'' occurs; in 1616 a dance ends “with a lovely falling ''final'' after the music”.^(DWB2|9, 493)^(DFWB) The form ''Finale'' is found in 1667, when the colonel “with his coarse voice holds out alone and makes the ''Finale''”, and it prevailed in the 19th century, helped by Italian musical usage.^(DFWB)^(DWB2|9, 493)^(Pfeifer 1993) It named the last movement of a large instrumental work and the closing scene of an act of an opera.^(DFWB)^(Duden GWDS 1999) From this came the figurative sense of a brilliant ending of anything, and in the 20th century the sports sense of a final contest, in which the plural is often ''Finals''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Hungarian borrowed it as ''finálé'' in 1853.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – ''final des sanges'' in the Limburg Chronicle, in a 16th-century copy.^(DWB2|9, 493)

+ * 1567 – ''final'' as a musical term.^(DWB2|9, 493)

+ * 1667 – The form ''Finale''.^(DFWB)

+ * 19th century – ''Finale'' replaces ''Final''.^(DWB2|9, 493)

+ * 1853 – Hungarian ''finálé'' is recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 20th century – The sense “final match” under English influence.^(Kluge 2011|295)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(music)'' The last movement of a large instrumental work, usually the fourth: the [[m|en|finale]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' The closing scene of an act of an opera or other stage work.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(formal)'' A brilliant [[m|en|climax]] at the end of something: ''Ein Konzert im Schlosshof bildete das Finale des Festes.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(sports)'' The [[m|en|final]], the last match or contest of a competition: ''Unsere Mannschaft steht im Finale.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sports)'' A final [[m|en|spurt]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Finalist]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Final]]

+ * [[fein]]

+ * [[Finanzen]]

+ * [[definieren]]

+ * [[Infinitiv]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}