Leistung

Pronunciation

• /ˈlaɪ̯stʊŋ/^[1]

Forms

Leistung f (genitive Leistung, plural Leistungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is from German leisten + -ung, first recorded as Middle High German leistunge (“taking on of an obligation”) at the end of the medieval period.^[2][3][4]

The verb leisten goes back to Middle High German leisten, Old High German leisten (“to follow, fulfil”), Proto-Germanic *laistijaną (“to follow”), which is also the source of Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (laistjan, “to follow”), Old English lǣstan and Old Frisian lāsta, and of the English verb last (“to continue, endure”).^[4][2] It meant at first “to follow a track”, being derived from the noun that survives in Leisten “shoemaker's last”, Proto-Germanic *laistaz (“track, footprint”), as in 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (laists, “track”).^[4][5][1] Pfeifer and Duden trace this family, with lehren, lernen, List and Gleis, to a root Proto-Indo-European *leis- (“track, furrow”).^[2][5] The modern sense of the verb comes from “to obey a command”, hence “to carry out, fulfil”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Late Middle High German leistunge meant the taking on of an obligation or a promise.^[2][6] Early New High German texts use leistung for a surety, a penalty imposed on someone, and above all the Einlager: the creditor's right to make a debtor or his guarantor stay at an inn, at his own cost, until the debt was paid.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “the result of physical or mental work, an achievement” dates from the 16th century.^[2] The Grimms' dictionary arranges the senses after those of the verb: the fulfilling of a duty, the taking on of an obligation such as an oath or a surety, and the proof of an ability, as in musical or acting achievements.^[6] In the 19th century came leistungsfähig “efficient, capable”.^[2]

In physics Leistung is the power of a machine, the work done per unit of time, and in law and economics it is the service or payment owed under a contract.^[3][1][8] The word was borrowed into Modern Hebrew as laistung, for an efficient performance.^[9]

Timeline

• Late Middle High German – leistunge “undertaking of an obligation”.^[2]
• 16th century – First record of the sense “achievement, result of work”.^[2]
• 19th century – The adjective leistungsfähig appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of performing or carrying out something.^[3]
2. An achievement, performance: work done and its result: eine starke Leistung der Mannschaft “a strong performance by the team”.^[3][1]
3. What a machine, an organ or a factory does or produces; output.^[3]
4. (physics) Power: work done per unit of time, measured in watts.^[3][1]
5. (law, economics) A service or payment owed, such as an insurance benefit; contractual performance.^[1][8]

Word family

• leistungsfähig
• Leistungsgesellschaft
• Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis

Related words

• leisten
• Gleis
• English last

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 571
5. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 507
6. ^ 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. 12, 726
7. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
8. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
9. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de