Besucher

Forms

Besucher m (genitive Besuchers, plural Besucher, feminine Besucherin)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German besuchen + -er, an agent noun of the verb “to visit”.^[1][2] The verb is Middle High German besuochen, Old High German bisuohhen (around 1000), from the prefix bi- and suohhen (“to seek”), the ancestor of suchen.^[3] An Old High German bisuohhāri (“tempter”) is recorded once, in Notker's glosses.^[4]

That verb in turn goes back to Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), also found in Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sōkjan), Old Norse sœkja, Old English sēcan, English seek, Old Saxon sōkian and Dutch zoeken.^[3][5] It is related by ablaut to the strong verb Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to dispute”), Old High German sahhan, the source of Sache.^[3][5] Kroonen notes that it looks like a causative but is probably not one, given the e-grade of its Greek and Latin cognates and its sense, and he reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek, track down”).^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 16th century Besucher meant an inspector or examiner, someone who carries out an investigation by virtue of an office.^[3][6] The Grimms still give the sense “searcher”, illustrating it with men who came on board and searched a ship for merchandise.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “guest, visitor” followed in the 17th century,^[3] as besuchen itself moved from “examine, inspect, attack” to “call on someone”.^[3] The noun Besuch “visit” is recorded from the 17th century and in the sense “guest(s)” from the 18th.^[3] Duden records the older use as “overseer, examiner”.^[8] In modern use the word also covers anyone who goes somewhere for a purpose, such as the audience of a theatre or an exhibition, and by extension the visitors of a website.^[8]

Timeline

• Around 1000 – Old High German bisuohhen “to examine, test, ask” appears.^[3]
• 2nd quarter of the 11th century – bisuohhāri “tempter” is recorded in Notker's glosses.^[4]
• 16th century – Besucher “inspector, examiner”.^[3]
• 17th century – Besucher “guest, visitor”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A visitor, someone who calls on another person: Am Abend kam noch ein später Besucher.^[8][1]
2. Someone who goes to a place or event; an attendee, a patron: die Besucher des Konzerts.^[8][1]
3. A visitor of a website.^[8]
4. (software) The visitor design pattern.^[1]

Word family

• Besucherbereich
• Besucherzimmer
• Blütenbesucher
• Kinobesucher
• Stammbesucher
• Besucherin

Related words

• besuchen
• Besuch
• suchen
• English seek

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
7. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1689
8. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag