Etymological Dictionary of the German Language

The Etymological Dictionary of the German Language (German: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache), sometimes referred to simply as Kluge, was published by Friedrich Kluge in 1883. It was the first German etymological dictionary based on Neogrammarian principles.^[1] Over the following decades it was republished and revised many times, with Kluge as the editor being succeeded by Alfred Götze [de], Alfred Schirmer, Walther Mitzka [de], and Elmar Seebold. It is considered a standard work among the German etymological dictionaries. The most recent edition, 25th, was released in 2011 in print, eBook and as an Android app.

Editions of Kluge's dictionary from 1883 to 2011

Editions and editors

Edition	Year	Editor	Pages	Word Count	Remarks
1st	1883	Friedrich Kluge	392	3900	published in fascicles since 1881 with vocabulary pp. 395–428; Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
2nd, unchanged reprint	1883	Friedrich Kluge	392	3900	with vocabulary pp. 395–428; Digitalisat UB Regensburg, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
3rd, unchanged reprint	1884	Friedrich Kluge	392	3900	with vocabulary pp. 395–428
4th, revised edition	1889	Friedrich Kluge	405	3600	with vocabulary pp. 409–453; Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
English translation of 4th ed.	1891	Friedrich Kluge	446	3600	translated by John Francis Davis; Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
5th, revised edition	1894	Friedrich Kluge	425	3600	with vocabulary pp. 428–491; Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
6th, improved and enlarged edition	1899	Friedrich Kluge	443	4700	with vocabulary pp. 428–491; Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive, 2. Abdruck 1905: Etymological Dictionary of the German Language at the Internet Archive
7th, improved and enlarged edition	1910	Friedrich Kluge	514	5200	Digitalisat MDZ München, Repozytorium Cyfrowe Instytutów Naukowych
8th, improved and enlarged edition	1915	Friedrich Kluge	510	5300
9th, revised edition	1921	Friedrich Kluge	510	5300	Digitized Taylor Institution Library
10th, improved and enlarged edition	1924	Friedrich Kluge	552	6200
11th, revised edition	1934	Alfred Götze	740	8300
12th and 13th, unchanged reprint	1943	Alfred Götze	740	8300
14th, unchanged reprint	1948	Alfred Götze	740	8300
15th, completely revised edition	1951	Alfred Schirmer	933	9500
16th, corrected edition	1953	Alfred Schirmer	933	9500	last edition to use the Fraktur font
17th, revised edition	1957	Walther Mitzka	900	8500
18th, revised edition	1960	Walther Mitzka	917	8700
19th, revised edition	1963	Walther Mitzka	917	8700
20th, revised edition	1967	Walther Mitzka	915	8600
21st, unchanged reprint	1975	Walther Mitzka	915	8600
22nd, revised edition	1989	Elmar Seebold	822	12,200
23rd, revised and expanded edition	1995	Elmar Seebold	921	11,500	a paperback version also became available in 1999
24th, revised and expanded edition	2002	Elmar Seebold	1023	11,900	also available in CD-ROM
25th, revised and expanded edition	2011	Elmar Seebold	1021	11,900	ISBN 978-3-11-022364-4; also as an E-Book (ISBN 978-3-11-022365-1) and an Android-App[2]

History

The 4th edition was translated and published in English by John Francis Davis in 1891.

From the 10th to the 13 editions, between 1924 and 1943, there was a dedication on the flyleaf that read: "To the German people its German dictionary."

In the 1980s, criticism grew about the state of the dictionary. It was argued that it had not been maintained with sufficient rigor and was partially outdated. One of the supporting arguments was that the 21st edition (1975) when compared to the previous edition had remained unchanged. As a result of this criticism a new editor for the dictionary was selected, Elmar Seebold.^[3]

Influence

After the publication and success of the 1st edition in 1883, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language became a major source, reference and format guide for etymological dictionaries of other languages. Examples:

• Dutch – Etymologisch Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (1892) by Johannes Franck
• Old Norse – Etymologisk Ordbog over det norske og det danske sprog (1885) by Hjalmar Falk and Alf Torp
• Swedish – Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1922) by Elof Hellquist
• English – An etymological dictionary of the English language (1893) by Walter William Skeat
• Danish – Dansk etymologisk ordbog by Niels Åge Nielsen^[3]