Gehalt

German

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ɡəˈhalt]
  • audio(file)

Etymology 1

Gehalt m. 'content, share', late Middle High German. gehalt 'custody, prison, inner value' is verbal abstract of Middle High German gehalten 'to keep still, to hold, to preserve, to imprison' (by prefix strengthened halten, from Old High German gihalto 'keeper, guardian', 9th cent.). Correspondingly, still today South German Gehalt stands for 'container' (e.g. 'room, cupboard'). Today's meaning 'constituent, content' develops in the 15th c. It first applies to the silver or gold content of coins, in the 17th c. to the content of chemical substances in a mixture; in the 18th c. the figurative use common today is encountered (cf. inner content, the true content of words, content and form). To keep in the sense of 'maintain' belongs Gehalt n. 'salary, income' (18th c., initially also m.), actually 'maintenance without consideration', cf. gracious, widow's salary (18th c.).

Noun

Gehalt n or (in Austria) m (strong, genitive Gehaltes or Gehalts, plural Gehälter)

  1. salary
Declension
Declension of Gehalt [neuter // masculine (in Austria), strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das, der Gehalt die Gehälter
genitive eines des Gehaltes, Gehalts der Gehälter
dative einem dem Gehalt, Gehalte1 den Gehältern
accusative ein, einen das, den Gehalt die Gehälter

1Now rare, see notes.

Noun

Gehalt m (strong, genitive Gehaltes or Gehalts, plural Gehalte)

  1. content
Declension
Declension of Gehalt [masculine, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Gehalt die Gehalte
genitive eines des Gehaltes, Gehalts der Gehalte
dative einem dem Gehalt, Gehalte1 den Gehalten
accusative einen den Gehalt die Gehalte

1Now rare, see notes.

Further reading
  • “Gehalt” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “Gehalt” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • “Gehalt” in Duden online
  • Gehalt on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.