Beziehung
Pronunciation
- /bəˈtsiːʊŋ/[1]
Forms
Beziehung f (genitive Beziehung, plural Beziehungen)[1]
Etymology
It is formed from German beziehen + -ung.[1][2][3] Kluge connects it with the sense of beziehen that is most important today, “to draw together, make a connection”.[4]
The verb is inherited from Middle High German beziehen, inherited from Old High German biziohan, the prefix be- added to ziehen.[4][5] That verb is ziohan, Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to pull”), also found in Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (tiuhan, “to lead”) and Old English tēon, and it corresponds exactly to Latin dūcō (“to lead”); both continue Proto-Indo-European *deuk- (“to pull”).[6][7][8]
Earliest recorded meaning
Swiss legal sources of the 15th century use Beziehung for a right of pre-emption on land, the first record being from Basel in 1406.[3] Other uses are rare in late medieval and early modern German;[3] in jeder Beziehung “in every respect” is found in 1569.[3]
Semantic evolution
The word has been in continuous use only since the 18th century.[3] Paul dates it to 1678 and derives it mainly from sich auf etwas beziehen “to refer to something”, so that it came to mean “relation, connection” and, in the phrases in jeder Beziehung and in keiner Beziehung, “respect”.[5][3] It was also used of the action of beziehen itself, such as the occupying of a new courthouse (Herder, 1765) or a new castle (Fontane, 1891).[3]
The sense “connection between people” is found from the late 18th century: Fichte wrote in 1794 of the relationship in which his correspondent stood with him.[3] In the plural Beziehungen came to mean useful connections, as in Brecht.[5] Since the 20th century the word is also used of a love affair;[5] Paul notes that it spread widely in this sense with the inward-looking culture of the 1970s.[5]
Timeline
- 1406 – First record, in a Basel legal source, as “right of pre-emption”.[3]
- 1569 – in jeder Beziehung “in every respect”.[3]
- 1678 – Paul's first record of the word in its general sense.[5]
- 1794 – Fichte uses it of a relationship between two people.[3]
- 1970s – Beziehung becomes a usual word for a romantic partnership.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- (usually plural) A connection or contact between people or groups: diplomatic, economic or personal relations; also useful contacts: seine Beziehungen spielen lassen, to pull strings.[9][1]
- A love affair or romantic relationship.[9][1]
- An inner connection or mutual relation between things: die Beziehung zwischen Preis und Qualität;[9][2] in dieser Beziehung, in this respect.[9][2]
Word family
- beziehungsweise
- beziehungslos
- Liebesbeziehung
- Wechselbeziehung
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. 5, 165
- ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 119
- ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
- ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
- ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag