Etymologically
Log in

Einsatz

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 17:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈaɪ̯nzats/[1]

Forms

Einsatz m (genitive Einsatzes, plural Einsätze)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German īnsaz (“putting in; something put in”), a noun formed from the verb einsetzen.[2][3][4] In modern terms it is ein- + Satz, a noun that Kluge takes as formed from the verb “to set”.[1][5] The verb setzen is sezzen, Proto-Germanic *satjaną (“to put”), the causative of sitzen.[6][7][8] The same formation is Dutch inzet and English inset.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in a charter of 1311, uses insatz for a batch put in at one time: sixty loads of salt delivered to the salt pans.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the senses of einsetzen: fish put into a pond, young plants set out, nested weights, boxes or bowls, a salve put on a horse, the stake in a game or a wager, a pledge, and the installation of someone in an office.[9][10] Adelung still records the stake in a lottery and the investiture.[10]

The military sense comes from the verb, used of troops from 1893; the noun was used of the deployment of troops in the First World War.[11] It then spread to civilian life (the use of means, staff or machines), and was much used in the National Socialist period for assigning “forces” to their place by plan.[11] In sport it came to mean effort and commitment, and often a hard style of play.[11] In music it is the entry of a voice or an instrument, a sense also used in English.[12][13] Polish borrowed it as anzac “zeal, enthusiasm”, recorded in 1900.[13]

Timeline

  • 1311 – insatz appears in a charter for a batch of salt.[2][3]
  • 1493 – Recorded for a salve or dressing.[2]
  • 1893 – The verb einsetzen is used of troops.[11]
  • 1900 – Polish anzac is recorded.[13]
  • 1914–1918 – Einsatz is used of the deployment of troops in the First World War.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An inserted piece, an inlay or inset.[12][1]
  2. A removable insert, such as a tray in a pot or a case.[12]
  3. A stake: the sum put on a game or a bet.[12][1]
  4. A deposit on a bottle or other item.[12][4]
  5. Use, employment, deployment of people or means.[12][1]
  6. Commitment, effort.[12][1]
  7. (military) A mission, action at the front.[12][1]
  8. (music) The entry of a voice or instrument; a cue.[12][1]
  9. (sports) An appearance for a team.[1]
  10. (Switzerland) The induction of a priest into office.[12]

Word family

  • einsatzbereit
  • Einsatzkraft
  • Kampfeinsatz
  • Hilfseinsatz

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. 7, 933
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  4. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 788
  6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 846
  7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 265
  10. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  11. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  13. ^ a b c Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de