ähnlich

Forms

ähnlich (strong nominative masculine singular ähnlicher, comparative ähnlicher, superlative am ähnlichsten)^[1] Umlauted forms prevail from the 14th century (enleich in Johann von Neumarkt),^[2] and Luther writes ehnlich.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German anelich (also enlich), inherited from Old High German *analīh, found only in derivatives such as analīhhī (“likeness”), beside anagilīh (“similar, equal”).^[5][6][1] This is inherited from Proto-Germanic *anagalīkaz (“similar”), formed from *ana (“on”) and *galīkaz (“like”) (see an and gleich).^[5][6][2] The same adjective is Old English anlīc, Old Norse álíkr, Middle Dutch aengelijc and Middle Low German ānelīk, with the adverb Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍉 (analeikō, “in the same way”).^[5][6][2]

Kluge explains it as “whose shape is close to it”, with the noun for “shape, body” that is also in Leiche; the explanation “nearly equal” is possible too, but he finds chronological and morphological difficulties in it.^[5] The modern form may be a blend with East Central German einlich of the 16th century, as Duden and Wahrig think;^[7][8][9] Kluge takes that form as a reinterpretation, and Pfeifer cannot rule out the blend but does not find the derivation of the East Central German form from ein compelling.^[5][6][2] Wiktionary adds that the noun Ahn may have supported the spelling.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German anagilīh is first found in Isidor at the end of the 8th century,^[10] which renders Genesis 1:26 as duoemes mannan uns anachiliihhan, “let us make man like us”.^[2] Middle High German anelich “similar, equal” is recorded from the last quarter of the 12th century.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century ähnlich could still mean “equal, identical”;^[6][2] Paul thinks mathematics, Kepler among others, played a part in separating it from gleich.^[3] Adelung defines ähnlich as agreeing in several features, gleich as agreeing in all, and notes the mathematical use for figures with the same proportions.^[12] The phrase das sieht ihm ähnlich “that is typical of him” is recorded by Adelung in 1774.^[3] Ähnlichkeit dates from about 1375 and became common in the 16th century,^[3][6] and ähneln (1652) replaced the older ähnlichen, which Goethe and Jean Paul still used.^[3][5]

Timeline

• End of the 8th century – Old High German anagilīh in Isidor.^[10][2]
• Last quarter of the 12th century – Middle High German anelich.^[11]
• c. 1375 – Ähnlichkeit in Johann von Neumarkt.^[3]
• 16th century – East Central German einlich is recorded.^[6][2]
• Early 17th century – The sense “equal” is lost.^[6]
• 1652 – ähneln is first recorded.^[3]
• 1774 – Adelung records das sieht ihm ähnlich.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. similar, alike in certain features: Die beiden Schwestern sind sich sehr ähnlich.^[9][1]
2. etwas sieht jemandem ähnlich (colloquial): something is typical of someone.^[9][3]
3. As a preposition with the dative: like, comparable to: Ähnlich einem Krimi beginnt das Buch mit einem Mord.^[9]

Word family

• ähneln
• Ähnlichkeit
• unähnlich

Related words

• gleich
• an
• Leiche
• English alike

Usage notes

An obsolete adjective ähnlich (Old High German anolîh) meant “inherited from one's grandparents, ancestral”, from Ahn; it is found in legal texts into the 17th century and in Voss in 1772.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 2, 87
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
4. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 196
5. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 23
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
9. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
12. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf