Weltkrieg German · revision 36160

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1599, H. Fabricius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvɛltˌkʁiːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Weltkrieg''' ''m'' (genitive Weltkrieges or Weltkriegs, plural Weltkriege)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|de|Welt|Krieg|t1=world|t2=war]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Duden 7 2007) The first part, [[gmh|werlt]], [[goh|weralt]], is an old West Germanic compound of a word for “man” (as in [[got|𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂|tr=wair]] and [[la|vir]]) and a word related to [[alt]], so that it first meant roughly “age of men, generation”.^(Kluge 2011|981)^(Duden 7 2007) The second part, [[gmh|kriec]], [[goh|krieg]], first meant obstinacy and effort, then strife; its origin is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|542)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Grimms' dictionary finds ''weltkrieg'' first in 1599, in a sense close to “worldly strife”, the unrest of life in this world, and in a hymn by David von Schweinitz (1600–1667) who contrasts the peace of Christ with “this world's war”.^(DWB|28, 1616)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern sense, a war between the great powers that involves many countries, appears in Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in 1814, who called Germany the battlefield of all world wars;^(DWB|28, 1616) Schelling, Holtei and C. F. Meyer used it in the same way.^(DWB|28, 1616) Duden dates the compound in this sense to the 19th century.^(Duden 7 2007) It was first applied to particular conflicts such as the wars against Napoleon of 1813–15, and then above all to the war of 1914–18.^(DWB|28, 1616) Since the Second World War the two great wars have been named with ordinals, ''der Erste'' and ''der Zweite Weltkrieg''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ The Grimms note the parallel compounds [[da|verdenskrig]], [[sv|världskrig]], [[nl|wereldoorlog]] and [[en|world war]].^(DWB|28, 1616)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1599 – ''weltkrieg'' is used of worldly strife.^(DWB|28, 1616)

+ * 1814 – Friedrich Ludwig Jahn uses the word for a war of many nations.^(DWB|28, 1616)

+ * 1856 – Schelling speaks of diseases that follow in the train of world wars.^(DWB|28, 1616)

+ * 1914–18 – The word becomes the name of the great war of those years.^(DWB|28, 1616)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|world war]], a war in which many countries, especially the great [[m|en|power|alt=powers]], take part.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''der Erste Weltkrieg'', ''der Zweite Weltkrieg'': the First and Second World Wars, 1914–18 and 1939–45: ''Ihr Großvater kämpfte im Ersten Weltkrieg.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Welt]]

+ * [[Krieg]]

+ * [[en|world war]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}