Wetter German · revision 36269

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=end of the 8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *wedrą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvɛtər/, [ˈvɛ.tʰɐ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Wetter''' ''n'' (genitive Wetters, plural Wetter, diminutive Wetterchen n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The doubled ⟨tt⟩ prevailed in late Middle High German;^(DWB|29, 698) ''weter'' is still found in Albrecht von Eyb.^(DWB|29, 698) In much of northern Germany the dialects dropped the /d/, with forms such as ''wer'' and ''wär''.^(DWB|29, 698)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|weter]], [[inh|goh|wetar]], [[inh|gem-pro|*wedrą|t=weather]].^(Kluge 2011|985)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[osx|wedar|t=weather, storm]], [[non|veðr]], [[ang|weder]], [[ofs|weder]] and [[nl|weer]], and [[en|weather]].^(Kluge 2011|985)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Outside Germanic, Kluge compares [[cu|ведро|tr=vedro|t=fine weather]], and Pfeifer and the Grimms' dictionary derive both from [[ine-pro|*u̯edʰro-]], with the suffix of instrument nouns added to the root of [[wehen]], [[ine-pro|*h₂weh₁-|t=to blow]]; the word would first have meant “moving air, wind”.^(Kluge 2011|985)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|29, 698)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge calls this probable but notes that the short vowel is unexplained.^(Kluge 2011|985) Kroonen holds that the forms point to a voiceless dental, so that the link with the Slavic word cannot be kept; the root “to blow” could be kept only with a reduced grade and a different suffix.^(Kroonen 2013) The Grimms' dictionary thought the comparison with [[lt|vėtra|t=storm]] and [[m|cu|вѣтръ|tr=větrŭ|t=wind]] less likely because of the vowel.^(DWB|29, 698)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''wetar'' is first recorded in glosses from the end of the 8th century, then in Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “weather, air, wind, storm”, and also “good weather”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|385) Old Saxon ''wedar'' meant “weather, storm”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “moving air” the word came to mean both the state of the air and, especially, bad weather and storms; from the storm came “lightning” (14th century), which lasted into the 19th century and survives in Kleist's character Friedrich Wetter, Graf vom Strahl.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Miners kept an older use: ''Wetter'' is the air in a pit (15th century), especially foul air, and ''schlagende Wetter'' (19th century) are explosive gases.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ Weather became a figure of mood: ''um gut Wetter bitten'' “to ask for leniency” is in Christian Weise, and the word served in curses and exclamations such as ''potz Wetter'' (1841) and ''alle Wetter''.^(Paul 2002) The verb [[wettern]] “to thunder” came to mean “to curse, rail” from the 16th century, properly “to use the word ''Wetter'' in cursing”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|931) ''Wetterwendisch'' (16th century) is “changing like the weather, fickle”.^(Duden 7 2020|931)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 8th century – Old High German ''wetar'' in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 12th century – First record of ''Wetterhahn'' “weathercock”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 14th century – Sense “lightning”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – Miners' sense “air in the pit”;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) ''Wetterfahne'' “weathervane” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''wetterwendisch'' “fickle”, and ''wettern'' “to curse”.^(Duden 7 2020|931)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1595 – ''Wetterstrahl'' “lightning bolt”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – ''schlagende Wetter'' “firedamp”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|weather]]: the state of the [[m|en|atmosphere]] at a place and time: ''Bei diesem Wetter bleiben wir lieber zu Hause.''^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(mining)'' The air in a [[m|en|mine]];^(Wiktionary DE)^(Paul 2002) ''schlagende Wetter'', [[m|en|firedamp]].^(Wiktionary DE)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(dated, regional)'' A [[m|en|storm]], [[Gewitter|alt=thunderstorm]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Unwetter]]

+ * [[wettern]]

+ * [[Wetterleuchten]]

+ * [[wetterwendisch]]

+ * [[Wetterbericht]]

+ * [[Wetterfrosch]]

+ * [[Wetterhahn]]

+ * [[Wetterlage]]

+ * [[Wettervorhersage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Gewitter]]

+ * [[wittern]]

+ * [[Witterung]]

+ * [[wehen]]

+ * [[en|weather]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''Wetter'', masculine, is a person who bets, from [[wetten]]; the Grimms' dictionary records ''wetder'' in a 15th-century glossary.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB|29, 698) Regional dialects also have a ''Wetter'' for the forked wooden piece joining parts of a cart or plough.^(DWB|29, 698)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}