Gewinn

Forms

Gewinn m (genitive Gewinnes or Gewinns, plural Gewinne)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gewin, inherited from Old High German giwin, a noun of action to the verb gewinnen, Old High German giwinnan.^[2][3][1] The verb is a prefix derivation of the old verb Middle High German winnen, Old High German winnan “to toil, struggle, rage”, Proto-Germanic *winnaną, also found in Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (winnan, “to suffer”), Old Norse vinna (“to work, achieve”) and Old English winnan, whence English win;^[4][3] the prefixed verb therefore meant “to reach by effort”.^[4][3] Only in West Germanic does the prefixed verb mean “to acquire”: Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gawinnan) means “to suffer”.^[4][3]

Kluge and Pfeifer connect it with Sanskrit वनोति (vanóti, “desires, wins”) and Latin venus (“charm, love”), from a root Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive for, desire”), to which Wonne, Wunsch, wohnen and Wahn also belong.^[4][3] Trier argued, with weighty reasons according to Kluge, that the original sense was “to pluck” bunches of leaves.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German giwin appears in glosses from about 765, in the Monsee fragments and in Notker, rendering Latin lucrum, quaestus, emolumentum and commodum: the acquisition, gain, profit or advantage of something.^[5][2] A neuter giwin of the 9th century meant instead “toil, struggle”, from the simple verb.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German gewin, from the Kaiserchronik (about 1150) on, covered acquisition, income, interest, victory, success, reward, booty and profit.^[6] Adelung distinguished the act of winning, as in der Gewinn der Schlacht, from what is gained, and in trade the surplus left after all costs.^[7]

The noun Gewinnler “profiteer” dates from the 16th century and survives in Kriegsgewinnler (20th century).^[3] Slovene borrowed the word as gvinj.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 765 – Old High German giwin in glosses.^[5]
• c. 1150 – Middle High German gewin in the Kaiserchronik.^[6]
• 16th century – Gewinnler is formed.^[3]
• 20th century – Kriegsgewinnler “war profiteer” appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. profit, gain: the material benefit of a business, the surplus over costs: Die Firma hat im letzten Jahr kaum Gewinn gemacht.^[9][1][10]
2. winnings, a prize in a game or lottery; also a winning ticket: Jedes fünfte Los ist ein Gewinn.^[9][1]
3. Benefit or enrichment gained from an activity: Ich habe das Buch mit großem Gewinn gelesen.^[9]
4. The act of winning: der Gewinn der Meisterschaft.^[9]

Word family

• Gewinnmaximierung
• Gewinnspanne
• gewinnsüchtig
• Hauptgewinn
• Zeitgewinn
• Kriegsgewinnler

Related words

• Gewinner
• gewinnen
• Wonne
• Wunsch
• English win

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 449
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 357
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 2, 662
8. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
9. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org