Feld German · revision 36182

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fɛlt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Feld''' ''n'' (genitive Feldes or Felds, plural Felder, diminutive Feldchen n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Old and Middle High German plural had no ending (''diu velt''); the ending ''-er'' prevailed by the 16th century, and the old dative plural ''felden'' is occasionally found until then.^(DWB2|9, 301) Luther still has the plural ''Felde'', and the old dative plural survives in place names such as Rheinfelden.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|velt]], [[inh|goh|feld]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*felþu|t=field]].^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA|3, 134) The same word is [[osx|feld]], [[ang|feld]] and [[ofs|feld]], continued in [[nl|veld]] and [[en|field]].^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Pfeifer 1993) With another ablaut grade the same base gives [[non|fold|t=earth, land, pasture]], [[ang|folde|t=earth, ground]] and [[m|osx|folda|t=earth]], and the river name Fulda.^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Paul 2002) No Gothic form is recorded, but the word was borrowed very early into Finnish as [[m|fi|pelto|t=field]].^(EWA|3, 134)

+

+ Kluge, Pfeifer and the EWA derive it, with a dental suffix, from the root [[ine-pro|*pelh₂-|alt=*pelə-, *plā-|t=to spread out, flat]], so that the first meaning was “what is spread out, a plain”;^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge adds that the root was perhaps originally [[ine-pro|*pel-|t=to strike]], “to beat flat”.^(Kluge 2011|285) Related words outside Germanic include [[cu|поле|tr=polje|t=field]] (Russian [[m|ru|поле|tr=póle]]), [[la|plānus|t=flat]] and [[m|la|palam|t=openly]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Duden 7 2014) Kroonen reconstructs [[ine-pro|*pélth₂-o-]], and Orel compares [[grc|πλατύς|tr=platús|t=flat, broad]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''feld'' is recorded from the 8th century, in glosses, the Lex Salica fragment, Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “field, plain, open land, surface”, and occasionally already “battlefield”.^(EWA|3, 134)^(Schützeichel 2012|99)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Lex Salica fragment of the early 9th century fines anyone who steals a pig ''in felðde'', “in the field”, where a herdsman is present.^(DWB2|9, 301)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle High German ''velt'' also meant a camp, a tournament ground and above all a battlefield, because battles were fought in open country; hence ''zu Felde ziehen'', ''im Felde stehen'' and the 16th-century compounds [[Feldhauptmann]], [[Feldmarschall]] and [[Feldzug]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014)^(Paul 2002) The army surgeon was the ''Feldscherer'' (16th century), shortened to [[Feldscher]] in the 17th; the [[Feldstecher]] “field glasses” dates from the 19th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ From the open field came the sense “field of crops”, then “a marked-off section of a surface” (of a chessboard, a coat of arms), the sports field, and “field of activity, subject” (18th century), which starts from the farmer's field of work.^(Duden 7 2014)^(Paul 2002) The physical ''Kraftfeld'' “field of force” dates from the end of the 19th century,^(Duden 7 2014) and DWB2 attributes two of the modern senses to the influence of English ''field''.^(DWB2|9, 301) Fontane's ''Effi Briest'' ends with ''das ist ein zu weites Feld'', which became a household phrase for a subject too large to discuss.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''feld'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|285)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Early 9th century – ''felðde'' in the Lex Salica fragment.^(DWB2|9, 301)

+ * 1060/65 – ''ze velde'' in the Vienna Genesis.^(DWB2|9, 301)

+ * 16th century – Military compounds such as ''Feldhauptmann'', ''Feldmarschall'' and ''Feldzug''; the plural in ''-er'' prevails.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB2|9, 301)

+ * 17th century – ''Feldscher'' “army surgeon”, shortened from ''Feldscherer''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – Sense “field of activity, subject”.^(Duden 7 2014)

+ * 1788 – Knigge writes of a wide field (''ein weites Feld'') to be worked through.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Late 19th century – ''Kraftfeld'' in physics.^(Duden 7 2014)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(elevated)'' Open, unbuilt [[m|en|countryside]]: ''über freies Feld wandern''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A [[m|en|field]] for growing crops: ''Die Bäuerin pflügt das Feld.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A marked-off section of a surface: a [[m|en|square]] of a chessboard, a box of a form, the field of a coat of arms.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sport)'' The playing field: ''einen Spieler vom Feld stellen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' The [[m|en|battlefield]], the front: ''ins Feld ziehen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A field of activity or study, a [[m|en|domain]]: ''das Feld der Biologie''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(physics)'' A region in which forces act: ''ein magnetisches Feld''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(sport)'' The body of competitors in a race: ''das Feld anführen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' Short for [[Wortfeld]], a lexical field.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(computing)'' An [[m|en|array]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Feldherr]]

+ * [[Feldmarschall]]

+ * [[Feldzug]]

+ * [[Feldwebel]]

+ * [[Feldscher]]

+ * [[Feldstecher]]

+ * [[Feldlager]]

+ * [[Feldküche]]

+ * [[Feldmaus]]

+ * [[Feldhase]]

+ * [[Feldlerche]]

+ * [[Feldweg]]

+ * [[Feldforschung]]

+ * [[Spielfeld]]

+ * [[Kraftfeld]]

+ * [[Wortfeld]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Flur]]

+ * [[Gefilde]]

+ * [[flach]]

+ * [[en|field]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Many fixed phrases come from the battlefield sense: ''das Feld räumen'' “to give up one's position”, ''das Feld behaupten'' “to hold one's ground against rivals”, ''etwas ins Feld führen'' “to put something forward as an argument”, ''jemanden aus dem Feld schlagen'' “to defeat someone”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) ''Noch in weitem Feld stehen'' “to be still quite uncertain” originally referred to grain not yet harvested.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}