Etymologically
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Kraft

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Pronunciation

Forms

Kraft f (genitive Kraft, plural Kräfte)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German kraft, inherited from Old High German kraft, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kraftu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *kraftuz (“strength, power”).[1][2][3] Kluge reconstructs a feminine i-stem Proto-Germanic *krafti- with traces of a parallel masculine u-stem.[2] The same word is Old Saxon kraft, Old Norse kraptr, Old English cræft, Old Frisian kreft and Dutch kracht; English craft narrowed to “skill, cunning”.[2][4][5]

Its origin is unclear.[2][5] Pfeifer and Duden suggest an extension Proto-Indo-European *grep- of the root *ger- (“to turn, wind”) (as in Krampf), so that the word first meant the tensing of the muscles.[4][5][6] Kluge prefers a link with Krieg and its possible relatives such as Old Irish bríg (“strength”).[2][7] Orel and Wiktionary derive it from a verb Proto-Germanic *krafjaną (“to demand”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German kraft appears in glosses from about 765 and in Isidor, Otfrid, Notker and other texts, meaning strength of body and mind, ability, might, power, virtue and miracle.[9][10][11] Already in Old High German it could mean the validity of a law.[4]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German kraft also meant an army and a large quantity.[4] The legal sense “validity” survives in the phrases in Kraft treten and außer Kraft setzen and in the adjective rechtskräftig.[4][12] From phrases such as in Kraft and durch Kraft the chancery language made a preposition kraft “by virtue of” in the 16th century.[2][4][5]

The word became a term of physics: Kant wrote on lebendige Kräfte in 1747.[12] From the end of the 18th century it was used of people as bearers of strength: Streitkräfte, then Lehrkräfte and Arbeitskraft in the 19th century, and eine bewährte Kraft “a capable employee” in the 20th.[4] The 20th century also coined Kraftfahrzeug and Kraftrad for motor vehicles.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 765 – Old High German kraft appears in glosses.[9]
  • 16th century – the preposition kraft “by virtue of” comes into use.[2][4]
  • 1747 – Kant writes about lebendige Kräfte in physics.[12]
  • Late 18th century – Streitkräfte “armed forces” is formed.[4]
  • 19th century – Lehrkräfte and Arbeitskraft come into use.[4]
  • 20th century – Kraft is used of a single employee;[4][7] Kraftfahrzeug is coined.[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Strength, the power to act, of body or mind: Ihm fehlte die Kraft, weiterzugehen.[6][1]
  2. A power that something has to produce an effect: die Kraft des Windes, die heilende Kraft der Kräuter.[6]
  3. A worker, employee: Wir suchen eine erfahrene Kraft für das Labor.[6][1]
  4. (plural) Groups that exert influence: konservative Kräfte im Parlament; also armed forces, as in Streitkräfte.[6][1]
  5. (physics) force, what changes a body's motion or shape.[6][1]
  6. Validity: in Kraft treten “to come into force” and außer Kraft setzen “to repeal”.[6][12]

Word family

  • kraft
  • kräftig
  • kräftigen
  • entkräften
  • verkraften
  • rechtskräftig
  • Streitkräfte
  • Arbeitskraft
  • Kraftwerk
  • Kraftfahrzeug

Usage notes

The preposition kraft takes the genitive and belongs to official language: kraft seines Amtes “by virtue of his office”.[6][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 535
  3. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 473
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b c d Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 738
  11. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 182
  12. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer