Etymologically
Log in

Lage

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 18:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlaːɡə/[1]

Forms

Lage f (genitive Lage, plural Lagen)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German lāge, inherited from Old High German lāga (“ambush, trap”), an abstract noun of liegen with a different vowel grade.[2][3][4] Duden calls it a word found only in German,[4] while Köbler sets up Proto-Germanic *lēgō (“lying, position, ambush”).[5]

The verb goes back to Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”).[6][5] Old High German also had laga (“laying”), a noun of legen, and they merged.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German lāga appears only in glosses, from the end of the 8th century, meaning “lying in wait, ambush, trap, snare”.[5][8] Kluge dates it to the 9th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German lāge meant lying in wait, an ambush, but also the state of lying, a condition, and a storehouse.[4][3][9] Paul notes that the senses close to the modern ones are found only in some Low and Central German sources; the word spread into the written standard only in the 17th century,[7][10] and is missing from the Upper German dictionaries of the 16th century.[7]

The first modern sense was the way a thing or place lies, as of a vineyard, which still gives the word for a wine-growing site.[10][11] From this came the figurative “situation, circumstances”, as in bei dieser Lage der Dinge (1797), and in der Lage sein “to be able”.[10] From 1626 (Opitz) Lage also meant a layer;[10] on warships it was a row of guns and their discharge, die volle Lage, a broadside,[10] and colloquially a round of drinks.[10][11] Compounds such as Lagebericht and Rückenlage became common around 1900, and in swimming Lagen are the four strokes of the medley.[3]

Timeline

  • End of the 8th century – Old High German lāga “ambush” appears in glosses.[5]
  • 9th century – Kluge's date for the first record.[2]
  • 1626 – Opitz uses Lage for a layer.[10]
  • 17th century – The word spreads in the written standard in the sense “position”.[10][7]
  • 1797 – Lage der Dinge and missliche Lage are recorded.[10]
  • c. 1900 – Compounds such as Lagebericht and Rückenlage come into use.[3]
  • 20th century – Lagenschwimmen, medley swimming.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. location, site: where something lies in relation to its surroundings: Das Hotel liegt in ruhiger Lage am Waldrand. In wine-growing, a vineyard site and the wine from it.[11][1]
  2. position: the way something lies: Der Balken ist nicht in der richtigen Lage.[11][1]
  3. (swimming, usually plural) One of the four strokes of the medley.[11][3]
  4. situation, circumstances: Die wirtschaftliche Lage hat sich verbessert.[11][1]
  5. A layer: eine Lage Kies; in bookbinding, a gathering of folded sheets.[11][12]
  6. (music) A register or range of the voice or an instrument; a position of the hand on the fingerboard.[11][12]
  7. (colloquial) A round of drinks: Ich gebe eine Lage aus.[11][10]

Word family

  • Lagebericht
  • Lebenslage
  • Rückenlage
  • Tonlage
  • Lagenschwimmen

Usage notes

In der Lage sein, etwas zu tun means “to be able to do something”, and colloquial die Lage peilen is to find out how things stand.[11][10] North German Lütje Lage is a beer with a schnapps.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 555
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 578
  7. ^ 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, 58
  8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 191
  9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org