Findling

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Findling.

Proper noun

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Findling (plural Findlings)

  1. A surname from German.

Statistics

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  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Findling is the 40261st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 544 individuals. Findling is most common among White (96.51%) individuals.

Further reading

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German

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ein Findling — a glacial erratic

Etymology

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From Middle High German vundelinc (foundling), equivalent to modern Fund (a find, finding) +‎ -ling; later altered after the verb finden (to find). The Middle High German form corresponds exactly to Middle Dutch vondelinc (whence Dutch vondeling), Middle Low German vundelink, Middle English fundeling (whence English foundling). These terms may be cognate through West Germanic, though it is noteworthy that none of the languages has an attestation in the oldest stage.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfɪntlɪŋ/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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Findling m (strong, genitive Findlings, plural Findlinge)

  1. (dated) foundling
    Synonym: Findelkind
    • 1830, Rudolf Giehrl, Kaspar Hauser, der ehrliche Findling, als Widerlegung der Polizeyrath Merker’schen Schrift: «Kaspar Hauser, nicht unwahrscheinlich ein Betrüger», page 1:
      Die von mir anzufechtende, Rath Merkersche Schrift über den Findling Kaspar Hauser zeigt schon in ihrem Titel, daß der Verfasser mit sich selbst im Widerspruche stand, denn Caspar Hauser sollte als ein Mensch dargestellt werden, dem es gelungen, auf eine seltene Weise nicht nur nächste Umgebung, eine große Stadt und ein Untersuchungsgericht, sondern ganz Deutschland, ja sogar ganz Europa zu täuschen; []
      The text by [police] superintendent Merker about the foundling Kaspar Hauser, which I shall repudiate here, already shows in its title [“Kaspar Hauser, not improbably an impostor”] that the author was at variance with himself, because Caspar [sic] Hauser was to be portrayed as a man who, in an extraordinary manner, succeeded in deceiving not only his closest environment, a large city and a court of enquiry, but all of Germany, yea, all of Europe; []
  2. (geology) glacial erratic [since 19th c.]
    Coordinate term: Feldstein
    • 2014, Manfred Reschke, 66-Seen Wanderung: Zu den Naturschönheiten rund um Berlin, Trescher Verlag, →ISBN, page 28:
      Ab einem Kubikmeter Größe wird ein Stein offiziell als Findling bezeichnet. In der Bevölkerung hat sich diese Bezeichnung aber auch für kleinere Steine eingebürgert, wobei der Übergang vom Findling zum Feldstein fließend ist.
      At a volume of one cubic metre, a stone is officially called a glacial erratic. Among the population, however, this designation has also become accepted for smaller stones, the line between a glacial erratic and a fieldstone being blurry.

Declension

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Further reading

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