Etymologically
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Aktion

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Pronunciation

  • /akˈtsi̯oːn/, [ʔakˈt͡sjoːn][1]

Forms

Aktion f (genitive Aktion, plural Aktionen, diminutive Aktiönchen n)[1] Early forms include Aczion and the Latin inflected forms;[2][3] Action was written until the early 20th century, Aktion from the 17th.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin āctiō (“movement, action, deed; lawsuit, legal claim”), the abstract noun of agō (“to drive, do, act”), borrowed in the later 15th century.[4][5][2] The legal sense “action at law, claim” came first and the general sense “action, activity” only in the 16th century.[4][5]

Aktie, a share, is the same Latin word, borrowed through Dutch actie (“claim”), and the older form survives in Aktionär, shareholder.[4] Action, from the corresponding English action, was taken over with its English pronunciation in the second half of the 20th century.[6] The Latin word also gave French action and Swedish aktion.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first German record, of 1474, is legal: a party sein action vnd klag auf entwerung gesetzt (“brought his action and complaint for dispossession”).[2][3] The sense “lawsuit, legal claim” remained in use until the end of the 18th century;[5][7] Paul still finds it in Wieland.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “(joint) undertaking, action” appears from 1525 in Zwingli.[7] From the end of the 17th century the phrases in Aktion sein “to be active” and in Aktion treten “to come into action” are current.[7][2] In the theatre Aktion meant acting or a performance, and around 1700 a troupe of players advertised haupt- und staatsactionen;[7] Haupt- und Staatsaktion became a mocking name for pompous historical plays and later for any fuss made over a trifle.[7]

Under National Socialism Aktion was a euphemism for confiscations, deportations and pogroms.[7] From the end of the 19th century it formed many political compounds, such as Aktionskomitee and Protestaktion;[7][2] Aktionsradius arose around 1900 in technical use, Aktionskunst around 1960 after English “action painting”, and blinder Aktionismus became a political reproach about 1970.[7][2] The economics minister Karl Schiller coined konzertierte Aktion in 1967 for agreed joint action by government and the social partners.[8] French borrowed action from German in the mid-20th century for supermarket special offers.[9]

Timeline

  • 1474 – First record, in the legal sense “action, claim”.[2][3]
  • 1525 – Zwingli uses it for “undertaking, action”.[7]
  • c. 1700 – Haupt- und Staatsaktion appears in a players' advertisement.[7]
  • Late 17th century – in Aktion treten and in Aktion sein become current.[2]
  • c. 1900 – Aktionsradius arises in technical use.[7]
  • 1967 – Karl Schiller coins konzertierte Aktion.[8]
  • c. 1970 – blinder Aktionismus becomes a political reproach.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A planned, usually joint undertaking or measure; a campaign: eine Aktion gegen Lebensmittelverschwendung starten.[8][1]
  2. action, activity;[8][2] in Aktion means in operation: die neue Maschine in Aktion sehen.[8][2]
  3. An act or deed, often unusual or questionable: was war denn das für eine Aktion?[1]
  4. (riding) The characteristic leg movement of a horse, its gait.[8]
  5. (physics) Action, effect.[8][10]
  6. (Switzerland) A special offer or sale in a shop.[8][10]

Word family

  • Aktionsradius
  • Aktionsart
  • Aktionismus
  • Aktionstag
  • Staatsaktion
  • Aktie
  • Aktionär
  • Action
  • agieren
  • Akt
  • Reaktion

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Schulz, Hans; Basler, Otto, et al. (1913–1988), Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch, 7 vols., Strasbourg / Berlin: Trübner / De Gruyter; 2nd ed., ed. Gerhard Strauß et al. (1995–), Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; via OWID, Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache
  3. ^ a b c d 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, 154
  4. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 26
  5. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org