Etymologically
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Gesellschaft

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈzɛlʃaft/[1]

Forms

Gesellschaft f (genitive Gesellschaft, plural Gesellschaften)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German geselleschaft, inherited from Old High German giselliscaft, formed from German Geselle + -schaft.[1][2][3] The base, Old High German gisello (“house-mate, companion”), is a West Germanic prefixed formation, Proto-West Germanic *ga-salja-, on the word behind Saal: it meant the one who shares the hall, the living space, with another, then a companion in general.[3][2][4] Kluge calls it a sociative formation, like Gefährte.[3][2]

The noun Old High German sal continues Proto-Germanic *salaz, originally the inner room of the one-room house, also in Old Norse salr, Old English sæl and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to find lodging, stay”); outside Germanic Kluge compares Latin solum (“ground”), Lithuanian salà (“village”) and Old Church Slavonic село (selo, “field, village”), and calls its further origin unclear.[5]

The same formation is Middle Low German geselschop, Middle Dutch gheselschap and Dutch gezelschap; Swedish sällskap and Danish selskab were borrowed.[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German giselliscaft is recorded in the Tatian (about 830), in Notker and in glosses, meaning fellowship, union, a circle of acquaintances, friendship;[7][2] Duden adds friendly company, love, all the guests together, and a trading partnership.[4] In Middle High German poetry it often means the retinue of a prince, as in the Eneit and Parzival.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German also used it for a merchants' association, a trading company, the source of the modern commercial sense.[8] From the 15th century the word was applied to the human community divided into groups, as in bürgerliche Gesellschaft “community of citizens”;[2] die (gute) Gesellschaft, the classes joined by rank, noble birth or education, dates from the 18th century.[2] At times it was almost a synonym of Staat, and in the 18th century it was influenced by French société (Rousseau); for 19th-century political economy society was the whole of mankind, split into classes and living in its relations of production.[2]

Gesellschafter dates from the 16th century[4] and gesellschaftlich from the 18th.[2] Moravian Czech borrowed the word as kselšoft.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 830 – giselliscaft in the Old High German Tatian.[7]
  • Middle High German – The sense “retinue of a prince” and the commercial sense “trading company”.[6][8]
  • 15th century – The sense “human community”, as in bürgerliche Gesellschaft.[2]
  • 16th century – Gesellschafter appears.[4]
  • 18th century – die gute Gesellschaft; influence of French société.[2]
  • 18th century – gesellschaftlich appears.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. society: all the people living together under particular political, economic and social conditions: die moderne Gesellschaft.[8][1]
  2. company, companionship, being together: Sie genoss seine Gesellschaft.[8][1]
  3. A larger social gathering, a party.[8][10]
  4. A circle of people gathered together: eine fröhliche Gesellschaft.[8][10]
  5. High society, the upper class set apart by wealth, position and education.[8]
  6. An association of people with a common aim or interests: eine Gesellschaft für Sprachforschung.[8][1]
  7. (business) A company formed by several persons or firms.[8][1]

Word family

  • Gesellschafter
  • gesellschaftlich
  • Gesellschaftsspiel
  • Aktiengesellschaft
  • Geselle
  • gesellig
  • Saal

Usage notes

Jemandem Gesellschaft leisten is to keep someone company, and sich in guter Gesellschaft befinden is to be in good company, sharing a mistake or an opinion with respected people.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 354
  4. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 780
  6. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 5, 4049
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  10. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org