Bildung
/ˈbɪldʊŋ/noun
A German noun meaning education, formation, or cultivation of the mind and character.
Did you know?Bildung comes from the same root as Bild (“image”), and historically it meant not just schooling but the inner shaping of a person into a cultivated form.
Etymological Timeline
Old High German
OHG
biliunga / bildunga
“forming, shaping, creation”
Middle High German
MHG
bildunge
“formation, image-making, shaping”
Early Modern German
German
Bildung
“formation, education, cultivation”
Modern English
English
bildung
“a borrowed term used in philosophy and cultural criticism for self-formation and education”