Etymologically
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Gesicht

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Pronunciation

  • /ɡəˈzɪçt/[1]
  • Austria: /ɡeˈsɪçt/[1]

Forms

Gesicht n (genitive Gesichtes or Gesichts, plural Gesichter, diminutive Gesichtchen n or Gesichtlein n or Gesichterl n)[1] Until the 16th century the word was mostly feminine, as in Middle High German diu gesiht.[2][3] The neuter is found in Central German from the 13th century and prevailed in the 16th.[3][4] The older plural Gesichte is now used only for “visions”, while Gesichter “faces” is recorded from the 17th century.[4][3] Klopstock still wrote Gesichte for faces in the Messias.[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gesiht, inherited from Old High German gisiht, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *gasihti (“sight”), a prefixed noun of action formed from sehen, with ge- (compare Sicht).[5][4][6][1] The same word is Old Saxon gisiht, Middle Low German gesichte, Middle Dutch gesicht (now Dutch gezicht), Old Dutch gesift and Old English gesihþ, and it is cognate with Yiddish געזיכט (gezikht).[4][6][1] The original meaning was “the act of seeing, a look, a view”, and the sense “face” developed out of “sight”.[5][7] Duden explains it either from “the look” or from “the part of the head where the sense of sight is”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German gisiht is first recorded in glosses of 765, and then in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker, Williram and the Benedictine Rule.[9][10][6] It meant seeing, looking, a sight or view, the eye, appearance and a vision;[6][10] in gisihti meant “in the sight of”.[6][10] The sense “face” is found only now and then in Old and Middle High German.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German gesiht meant sight, eyesight, the eyes, a vision or dream, and also the face and outward appearance.[11][12] The sense “faculty of sight” lasted long: Luther wrote that Christ gave sight to many who were blind (vielen Blinden gab er das Gesicht), and the phrases zu Gesicht bekommen “to get to see” and aus dem Gesicht verlieren “to lose sight of” go back to it.[2][13] From the late 15th century zu Gesicht stehen meant “to suit”, recorded in 1485.[2] As the usual word for the face, Gesicht pushed the older Antlitz into elevated language.[4]

Many phrases describe the face as a mirror of feelings: ein Gesicht wie Milch und Blut (1711), ein Gesicht wie sieben Tage Regenwetter “a face as gloomy as a week of rain” (1720), ein langes Gesicht machen “to look disappointed”, used by Kant, and Gesichter schneiden “to pull faces” (18th century).[2][4] Das zweite Gesicht, the gift of seeing the future, imitates English second sight.[14][7] Das Gesicht verlieren and das Gesicht wahren are loan translations of English to lose face and to save one's face, an expression of East Asian origin.[13][2] Dürer coined Gesichtspunkt in the 16th century as a term of perspective drawing for medieval Latin punctum visus, and Leibniz used it figuratively under the influence of French point de vue.[4] The coarse Czech ksicht “mug” and Slovak ksicht are borrowed from the German word.[15]

Timeline

  • 765 – Old High German gisiht appears in glosses.[9]
  • 13th century – The neuter gender appears in Central German.[3]
  • 1485 – zu Gesicht stehen “to suit” is recorded.[2]
  • 16th century – The neuter prevails;[4] Dürer coins Gesichtspunkt.[4]
  • 17th century – The plural Gesichter “faces” is recorded.[4]
  • 1711 – ein Gesicht wie Milch und Blut.[2]
  • 18th century – ein langes Gesicht machen and Gesichter schneiden are current.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The face, the front of the head with the eyes, nose and mouth; also of animals: Das Kind hatte ein rundes, sommersprossiges Gesicht.[13][1]
  2. A person, as known or unknown: Auf der Feier sah ich viele neue Gesichter.[13][1]
  3. A facial expression, a look: ein enttäuschtes Gesicht machen;[13][1] ein langes Gesicht machen, to look disappointed;[13][1] Gesichter schneiden, to pull faces.[13][1]
  4. The characteristic appearance or character of something: Der neue Bahnhof hat dem Viertel ein anderes Gesicht gegeben.[13][1]
  5. (figurative) Honour, reputation: das Gesicht wahren, das Gesicht verlieren.[13][1]
  6. (dated) Eyesight, the sense of sight;[13][1] das zweite Gesicht, second sight;[13][1] zu Gesicht bekommen, to get to see.[13][1]
  7. (elevated, plural Gesichte) A vision, an apparition.[1][4]

Word family

  • Gesichtsausdruck
  • Gesichtszug
  • Gesichtsfeld
  • Gesichtspunkt
  • gesichtslos
  • Backpfeifengesicht

Usage notes

Jemandem wie aus dem Gesicht geschnitten sein is to look exactly like someone, sein wahres Gesicht zeigen to show one's true character, and jemandem etwas ins Gesicht sagen to tell someone something unpleasant to their face.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 5, 4087
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 354
  6. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 392
  7. ^ a b Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 335
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 280
  11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  14. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag
  15. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de