Wortgeschichte digital now in the dictionary network

The aim of the Wortgeschichte digital project is to describe key German words from around 1600 to the present day. As a purely digital project, it does not process the vocabulary alphabetically, but according to thematic contexts. In the initial phase (until 2026), important words in the field of politics and society will be dealt with; further work phases are also dedicated to specific subject areas (e.g. economy, transport, communication, everyday culture). In this way, the more recent history of the German language will be successively processed, for which the largely outdated volumes of the first edition of the Grimm dictionary are still often used. It thus makes a significant contribution to closing the temporal gap between contemporary lexicography and the dictionaries of the older language stages.

Wortgeschichte digital is the Göttingen sub-project of the ZDL. The aim of this long-term joint lexicographical project is to develop and operate a digital information system that comprehensively and reliably describes German vocabulary, its history and its ongoing changes. 

Dictionary network: www.woerterbuchnetz.de/

Wortgeschichte digital: www.zdl.org/wb/wortgeschichten/