Lösung

Forms

Lösung f (genitive Lösung, plural Lösungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German lœsunge (also lōsunge), inherited from Old High German lōsunga (“redemption, ransom”), the noun of lösen with -ung.^[2][1][3] Wiktionary traces it further to Proto-West Germanic *lausungu and Proto-Germanic *lausungō, which also gave Old English lēasung (“lie, falsehood”), the source of English leasing, and Icelandic lausung.^[1]

The verb, Old High German lōsen, is the same as Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lausjan), Old Norse leysa and Old English līesan, and is derived from the adjective los.^[4][2][3] That adjective, Proto-Germanic *lausaz, is itself formed from a verb meaning “to loosen” that survives in Germanic only with a prefix, as in verlieren.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German lōsunga is recorded in glosses, in Notker and in the Tatian (about 830), meaning “redemption, deliverance”;^[5][6] Köbler also lists the senses “payment, ransom” and “deceit, deception”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German lœsunge meant a loosening or opening, redemption, the ransoming of a person or a pledge, a ransom or purchase price, and money taken in; in Nuremberg and Basel it was also a civic tax on property.^[7] The Grimms' dictionary still records the ransom of a prisoner (Luther's Bible) and ransom money (Voss's Iliad), the redemption of a pledged property in law, and the loosing of bonds.^[8]

The sense “answer to a riddle or problem” is listed in the Grimm dictionary beside die Lösung eines Widerspruchs, the resolving of a contradiction.^[8] The chemical sense, the dissolving of a substance in a liquid and the liquid itself, became a technical term in the 19th century, shortened from Auflösung.^[3][8] In Switzerland Lösung is also the buying of a licence token, as for a bicycle.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 830 – Old High German lōsunga “redemption” in the Tatian.^[5]
• 1441 – In Basel lôsunge is a civic levy.^[7]
• 1755 – The Mainz land law uses Lösung for the right to redeem a sold property.^[8]
• 19th century – Lösung becomes a chemical term, shortened from Auflösung.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The solving of a difficult task or problem: Die Stadt sucht nach einer Lösung für die Wohnungsnot.^[9][1]
2. The answer or result found: des Rätsels Lösung, the answer to the riddle; a solution.^[9][1]
3. A loosening or freeing from something: die Lösung eines Knotens.^[9]
4. The cancellation or dissolving of a contract, a marriage or a bond.^[9][1]
5. (chemistry, physics) The dissolving of a substance in a liquid; a liquid in which a substance is dissolved: eine schwache Zuckerlösung.^[9][1]
6. (Switzerland) The buying of a licence token, as for a bicycle.^[9]

Word family

• Lösungsmittel
• Lösungswort

Related words

• lösen
• los
• Erlösung
• Auflösung
• English leasing

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 520
4. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 584
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 207
7. ^ a b Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 1960
8. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 1202
9. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag