Spur German · revision 36243

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German Abrogans|origins=ine-pro *sperH-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃpuːr/, [ʃpu(ː)ɐ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Spur''' ''f'' (genitive Spur, plural Spuren)^(Wiktionary)

+ The word was at first neuter (Old High German ''spor''); Middle High German developed feminine forms, which prevailed in the 16th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) The EWA, however, sees no change of gender: it takes the feminine ''spur'' for a separate, younger formation that replaced ''spor''.^(EWA|8, 814)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|spur]], [[inh|goh|spor]], [[inh|gem-pro|*spurą|t=track]].^(Kluge 2011|873)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[non|spor]], [[ang|spor]], [[gml|spōr]] and [[dum|spor]], and today [[nl|spoor]], [[sv|spår]] and [[is|spor]].^(Kluge 2011|873)^(Pfeifer 1993) It is a derivative of the Germanic verb found in [[goh|spurnan|t=to kick, spur]], [[m|non|sporna|t=to tread, kick away]] and [[m|ang|spurnan|t=to kick, scorn]], so it originally meant “a tread, a footprint”.^(Kluge 2011|873)^(Duden 7 2020) The [[Sporn]] (spur) is named from the same verb.^(Kluge 2011|870)

+

+ The root is [[ine-pro|*sperH-|t=to kick, trample]],^(Wiktionary) also in [[sa|स्फुरति|tr=sphuráti|t=kicks back]], [[grc|ἀσπαίρω|tr=aspaírō|t=I twitch, struggle]], [[lt|spirti|t=to kick backwards]] and [[la|spernō|t=to push away, scorn]].^(Kluge 2011|870)^(Duden 7 2020) Pfeifer and Duden give it the sense “to twitch, kick out with the foot, struggle”, and Duden also connects the family of [[springen]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ The form with ⟨u⟩ took its vowel from the verb [[goh|spurien|t=to follow a track]], the ancestor of [[spüren]].^(EWA|8, 920)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''spor'' is recorded from the end of the 8th century in the Abrogans and other glosses, and in the Murbach Hymns, the Benedictine Rule, Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “track, trail, step, foot, sign”, glossing Latin ''vestigium''.^(EWA|8, 814)^(Schützeichel 2012|306)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Spur'' was first a hunting word for the print left by a foot, and phrases such as ''auf die Spur bringen'' refer to the hunting dog.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Phrases such as ''auf der Spur sein'' and ''auf die Spur kommen'' are recorded by Stieler, and ''die Spur verlieren'' by Kramer.^(Paul 2002) The figurative sense “a sign left behind” developed early, and in New High German it joined the idea of something barely noticeable: ''keine Spur'' “not a trace”, recorded with ''spurlos'' “without trace” from the 18th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) From the 18th century the general sense “mark, sign of an existence” is common, as in the traces of age or of a former devastation, and in police work the clue that helps solve a crime.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The word also named the ruts of carts on a road.^(Duden 7 2020) From the 18th century it meant the distance between the wheels of a vehicle, and in the 19th century came ''Spurweite'' for the gauge of a railway, and the adjective [[großspurig]] “boastful”.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Later it was used for the lane of a road and the track on a magnetic tape.^(Paul 2002) The verb [[spuren]] “to keep in the track” was said of carts at the beginning of the 19th century and then colloquially for “to toe the line”; in the 20th century it also means laying a ski track.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''spor'' appears in the Abrogans glosses.^(EWA|8, 814)

+ * First half of the 13th century – The form ''spur'' is recorded in a Bavarian gloss.^(EWA|8, 920)

+ * 16th century – Feminine forms prevail.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''keine Spur'', ''spurlos'' and the technical sense “track width of a vehicle” are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – ''Spurweite'' (railway gauge), ''großspurig'' and the verb ''spuren'' appear.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|track]] or [[m|en|trail]]: a line of prints or marks left on the ground by a person, animal or vehicle.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(skiing)'' A cross-country ski track, a [[Loipe]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(hunting)'' The track of certain animals, especially small game, as distinct from a [[Fährte]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A [[m|en|trace]], sign or mark left behind; a [[m|en|clue]] to a crime.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|lane]] of a road.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A track on a magnetic tape or other data medium.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(technology)'' Track width, [[m|en|gauge]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(motoring)'' The alignment of the wheels; also the line a vehicle keeps when driven.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A tiny amount, a touch: ''eine Spur Zimt'' “a hint of cinnamon”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The ''trace'' of a square matrix.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spuren]]

+ * [[spurlos]]

+ * [[großspurig]]

+ * [[Spurweite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spüren]]

+ * [[Sporn]]

+ * [[en|spoor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Jemandem auf die Spur kommen'' is to find someone out, and ''einer Sache auf die Spur kommen'' to discover what lies behind something; a ''heiße Spur'' is a promising lead.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Colloquially ''keine Spur'' or ''nicht die Spur'' means “not at all”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}