Glück

Forms

Glück n (genitive Glückes or Glücks, no plural)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German gelücke (“fate, chance”), first recorded in the early courtly poetry of about 1160.^[2][3] The word spread over the German-speaking area from the Rhine and the north-west together with the culture of chivalry.^[2][4] Duden and Wiktionary take it as borrowed from Middle Dutch ghelucke or its forerunner Old Dutch *gilukki, from the Flemish knightly world;^[5][1] Middle Low German gelucke stands between.^[5][1] Kluge, too, starts from this Low Franconian form.^[6]

Its further origin is unknown.^[6][2][1] Kluge, following Sanders, explains it as a loan translation of Old French destinée (“determination; fate”), with a Low Franconian word for “what is decided”, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną (“to close, shut”), also in Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 (galūkan, “to lock up”).^[6][7][4] The older connection with gelingen “to succeed” is rejected by the Grimms' dictionary, because that verb is foreign to Low Franconian, where the word arose.^[8][1]

From Middle Low German and Middle Dutch the word was borrowed as Old Frisian lukk, Middle English lukke (now English luck), and Scandinavian forms such as Swedish lycka.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first records Middle High German gelücke meant “fate, the outcome of an event”, for good or for bad, and was often personified, like Latin fortuna.^[2][3] It competed with the older words for good fortune, sælde (see selig) and heil (see Heil).^[2][4] Köbler lists the Alexanderlied of Lamprecht (1150–1170) as an early source.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle High German the word narrowed to “a favourable outcome, success”, and in the 14th century it could also mean “occupation, livelihood”.^[3][2][4] Finally it came to mean the inner state of contentment and joy, as in Goethe's welch ein Glück, geliebt zu werden.^[3][2]

Phrases record the history: sein Glück versuchen goes back to Middle High German, sein Glück machen “to make one's fortune” to the late 17th century, and the miners' greeting Glück auf!, from the Erzgebirge, to the 17th century.^[3][4][5] Derivatives include Glückskind (16th century), and Glückspilz, in the 18th century “upstart”, perhaps after English mushroom, but since the later 19th century “lucky person”.^[2][4] The word was borrowed as Czech klika “luck”.^[10]

The sources differ on the date: Pfeifer and Paul give 1160, Kluge the 13th century, and Wahrig a first record around 1300 in Franconia.^[2][3][6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – First records of Middle High German gelücke in courtly poetry.^[2][3]
• 14th century – The sense “livelihood, occupation” appears.^[2]
• 15th century – Middle English lukke is borrowed from Low German or Dutch.^[8]
• 16th century – Glückskind is recorded.^[2]
• 1621 – First record of the miners' greeting Glück auf!.^[3]
• Late 17th century – sein Glück machen “to make one's fortune”.^[3]
• 18th century – Glückspilz “upstart” and Glücksritter “adventurer”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. luck, good fortune: a fortunate chance or coincidence: Wir hatten Glück mit dem Wetter.;^[5][1] auf gut Glück, at random, hoping for the best;^[5][1] zum Glück, luckily.^[5][1]
2. Fortune personified, Fortuna: Das Glück war ihm hold.^[5][11]
3. happiness: a state of deep contentment and joy: das Glück der jungen Eltern.^[5][1]
4. A happy moment or event.^[5]

Word family

• beglücken
• glücken
• glücklich
• glückselig
• Glückshaube
• Glückskind
• Glückspilz
• Glücksrad
• Glücksritter
• Unglück
• verunglücken
• Anfängerglück
• glückbringend
• glücklos
• Glücksbringer

Related words

• English luck

Usage notes

Proverbs include Jeder ist seines Glückes Schmied “everyone forges their own fortune” and Glück und Glas, wie leicht bricht das “luck and glass, how easily they break”.^[5] Glück auf! is the traditional miners' greeting, formed in the Erzgebirge to distinguish it from the general Glück zu!; airmen's Glück ab! was modelled on it.^[5][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 331
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 364
7. ^ a b Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
8. ^ 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. 8, 226
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
11. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org