An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Welt

by Friedrich Kluge

Welt, feminine, ‘world, society,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wëlt, usually wërlt, werëlt, Old High German wëralt (worolt), feminine; the Middle High German and Old High German word has also the earlier signification ‘age, saeculum.’ Compare Old Saxon wërold, ‘earthly life, age'; Dutch wereld, Anglo-Saxon weorold, worold, English world, have the Modern High German meaning. The double sense ‘world' and ‘age' can hardly be explained from one primary form; the latter meaning is linked with Old Icelandic ǫld, Anglo-Saxon yld, ‘age'; the former seems to be based on a collective sense, ‘humanity,’ which follows from Old Low German ęldi, Anglo-Saxon ylde, Old Icelandic elder, ‘men.’ The first part of the compound (Gothic waír-aldus) is Teutonic wër, ‘man, person’ (see Werwolf). Welt, like Himmel and Hölle is peculiar to Teutonic.