Etymologically
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Ansicht

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʔanzɪçt/[1]

Forms

Ansicht f (genitive Ansicht, plural Ansichten)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German anesiht, inherited from Old High German anasiht, a compound from Old High German ana (“on, at”) + siht (“sight”), parallel to the verb ansehen.[2][3][1] The noun Sicht, siht, is Proto-West Germanic *sihti, an abstract noun from sehen.[4] The verb is Proto-Germanic *sehwaną, also found in Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saihwan), Old Norse sjá and Old English sēon.[5][6] Its further origin is unclear: Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary connect it with Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”), as in Latin sequor (“to follow”), seeing being “following with the eyes”, but Kluge finds this link hard to judge.[6][7][5] Middle Low German and some Central German also had a neuter form, which the Grimms' revised dictionary treats as a substitute for Angesicht.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German anasiht first glosses Latin respectus in the 9th century, and then obtutus and inspectio, “looking at, sight, inspection”.[3] Notker (before 1022) uses it for the gaze, and in Köbler's records it also means face, appearance and insight.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 18th century the word was uncommon, and it is hardly found in the 17th; it spread widely only from the end of the 18th century, above all in the sense “opinion”.[3] Adelung (1793) knew it for the act of looking at something, for Sicht in merchants' bills of exchange, and, mainly in Low German, for a prospect or view; he does not have the sense “opinion”.[8][9] Paul quotes Goethe's account of how Herder led him to neuen Ansichten every day.[9] The older concrete sense “looking at” survives only in zur Ansicht, of goods sent on approval, while “appearance” now chiefly means a picture of a place, as in Ansichtskarte, recorded in 1901 as short for Ansichtspostkarte.[9] Dutch borrowed ansicht for a picture postcard in the early 20th century.[10]

Timeline

  • 9th century – Old High German anasiht glosses Latin respectus.[3]
  • Before 1022 – Notker uses the word.[3]
  • Late 18th century – The word spreads in the sense “opinion”.[3]
  • 1793 – Adelung does not yet record the sense “opinion”.[8][9]
  • 1901 – Ansichtskarte “picture postcard” is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An opinion, a view, a conviction: Sie vertritt eine andere Ansicht. meiner Ansicht nach “in my opinion”.[11][1]
  2. A picture of a place or thing: alte Ansichten des Hafens.[11][1]
  3. The visible side of a building or object, its front or façade: die hintere Ansicht des Rathauses.[11]
  4. zur Ansicht: for inspection, on approval: Bücher zur Ansicht bestellen.[11][9]
  5. (computing) A view, a way in which data are displayed on screen.[1]

Word family

  • Ansichtskarte
  • Ansichtssache
  • Seitenansicht
  • Vorderansicht

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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, 1352
  4. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 847
  5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 839
  6. ^ a b 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 (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 770
  8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  9. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  10. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  11. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag