Etymologically
Log in

Besuch

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /bəˈzuːχ/[1]

Forms

Besuch m (genitive Besuches or Besuchs, plural Besuche)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German besuoch, inherited from Old High German bisuoh (“temptation”), the noun of the verb besuchen.[2][1][3] The Duden dictionary instead treats the modern noun as a back-formation from the older Besuchung, and the Grimms' dictionary notes that in the sense “visit” the earlier language knew only that longer word.[4][5]

That verb is Middle High German besuochen, Old High German bisuohhen (“to examine, try, ask”), suchen with the prefix be-.[6][2] The simple verb is Old High German suohhen, Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), the same word as Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sōkjan), Old English sēcan and Old Norse sœkja, continued in English seek.[7][8] Outside Germanic it is compared with Latin sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”), Old Irish saigid (“seeks”) and Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “I lead”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to track, seek”);[7][8] Kluge takes the first sense to be the scenting of a hound.[7][8] It looks like a causative of the verb behind Sache, but Kroonen notes that the e-grade of the Greek and Latin cognates makes such a formation unlikely.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German bisuoh is found twice, in the Notker glosses of the second quarter of the 11th century, meaning “temptation”.[3][9] Middle High German besuoch, from about 1300, meant “test”, “the right to use a place as pasture” and “interest on lent money”.[10][1]

Semantic evolution

Early New High German still used it for the profit from money lent, interest or usury, and for a pasture.[11] In hunting it named the search for game with the scent hound.[5]

The modern sense “the act of visiting” dates from the 17th century, and “visitor, guests” from the 18th.[2] The fixed phrases einen Besuch abstatten, zu Besuch gehen and zu Besuch sein are of the 18th century, auf Besuch sein of the 19th.[2] besök and besøg were borrowed from German.[5]

Timeline

  • Second quarter of the 11th century – Old High German bisuoh “temptation” in the Notker glosses.[3]
  • 11th century – Old High German bisuohhen “to examine”; the sense “to visit” follows in the 17th century.[6]
  • c. 1300 – Middle High German besuoch “test, interest”.[10]
  • 17th century – Besuch “the act of visiting”.[2]
  • 18th century – Besuch “visitor, guests”, and phrases such as zu Besuch sein.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A visit, to a person, by a doctor, or to a place or event; also attendance: Nach dem Besuch des Museums gingen wir essen.[4][1][12] Der Besuch der Schule ist Pflicht.[4]
  2. (no plural) A visitor or visitors, guests: Am Wochenende bekommen wir Besuch aus Hamburg.[4][1][12]

Word family

  • Hausbesuch
  • Staatsbesuch
  • Krankenbesuch

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  4. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1688
  6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 115
  7. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 897
  8. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 322
  10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  11. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  12. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org