Die Qual der Wahl – unterliegt strengen Regeln: Zu Belegauswahl und Belegaufnahme beim Deutschen Rechtswörterbuch

The entry Truchseß in the Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (Dictionary of German Legal Terms, DRW) includes 48 quotations and respective references. The entry stehen includes no fewer than 686 quotations. For the rare word Trizesimationsfruchtverleihungsbericht , however, only one quotation was provided. How do these differences arise? How are the DRW quotations selected? What are the criteria? These questions will be addressed in the following. As a comprehensive dictionary of historical German legal terminology, the Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch covers the legally relevant German and West Germanic vocabulary from the beginning of the written tradition in late antiquity up to the 19th century. This results in an exceptionally broad temporal and geographical spectrum of the quotations – restricted only by the the project’s legal focus. About 2.5 million quotation slips from the initial period of the project, which was founded in 1897, and electronically provided resources form the basis for the editing process. For many of the dictionary’s entries, there are far more usage examples than can be included. Therefore, selecting examples is one of the most important tasks when creating articles, besides working out the meanings of words.