Etymologically
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Licht

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Pronunciation

Forms

Licht n (genitive Lichtes or Lichts, plural Lichter or Lichte, diminutive Lichtchen n or Lichtlein n)[1] Middle High German had the plural diu lieht, which lasted into the 16th century.[2] Older written German spelled the word liecht until the 17th century, though the form licht goes back to the 13th.[2] The plural Lichte is now dated or poetic, except for candles.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German lieht, inherited from Old High German lioht, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, inherited from Proto-Germanic *leuhtą (“light”), the adjective licht “bright” used as a noun.[1][5][6] Kluge calls the noun old, and Paul allows that it may instead have been formed with a dental suffix on the model of Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌸 (liuhaþ, “light”).[6][4] The same word is Old Saxon lioht, Old English lēoht and Old Frisian liacht, continued in Dutch licht and English light.[7][8] It is only West Germanic: Gothic used that other noun and Old Norse ljós for the noun, though the Gothic verb 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (liuhtjan, “to shine”) shows that the adjective was once common Germanic.[2][6]

The root is Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“to shine”), also found in Hittite lukkizzi (“it gets light”), Sanskrit रोचते (rócate, “shines”), Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “bright, white”), Latin lūx (“light”), Old Church Slavonic луча (luča, “ray”) and Lithuanian laũkas (“with a blaze”).[6][7] Wiktionary reconstructs the noun as *lewktom, and Kluge suggests an old consonant stem *leukot-.[1][6] The diphthong was shortened before ⟨cht⟩, sporadically already in Old High German and generally in New High German; in Low German the short vowel is old, while Alemannic and Bavarian still have a diphthong.[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German lioht is recorded from the 8th century, in the Vocabularius Sancti Galli, the Abrogans and the Samanunga, and then in Isidor, the Benedictine Rule, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, with about 260 occurrences.[10][11] Its senses were light and brightness, daybreak, daylight, a lamp and the light of the eyes, rendering Latin lux, lumen, lucerna and candela;[10][12] under zwiscēn liehten meant “at twilight”.[10][12]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning was brightness, the glow that comes from something or spreads over it, as in Luther's Es werde Liecht (Genesis 1:3).[4] The use for a shining object came later: in Genesis 1:16 Luther calls the sun and moon zwey grosse Liechter, and since the 15th century (1464–75) Licht is a candle, chiefly in the north, with the plural Lichte beside Lichter.[4] Lichtmess, Candlemas, is named after the blessing of candles on that day.[13] In hunters' language the plural Lichter means the eyes of game.[13][3]

Many phrases come from it.[4] Etwas ans Licht bringen “to bring to light” is recorded in 1561 of bad deeds, jemandem im Licht stehen “to stand in someone's light” the same year in Maaler (earlier vor dem Lichte stehen, 1519/22), jemanden hinters Licht führen “to deceive someone” in Gryphius, and das Licht der Welt erblicken “to be born” in Frisch (1741).[4] Grünes Licht geben “to give the go-ahead”, after the traffic light, is a modern coinage.[4][3]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German lioht appears in the earliest glossaries.[10][11]
  • 13th century – The spelling licht with a short vowel is found beside lieht.[2]
  • 1464–1475 – First record of the sense “candle”.[4]
  • 1561 – ans Licht bringen and im Licht stehen are recorded.[4]
  • 17th century – The spelling liecht gives way to licht.[2]
  • 1741 – Frisch records das Licht der Welt erblicken.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. light, brightness: what lights up the surroundings and makes things visible, the glow given off by a source of light: das kalte Licht des Mondes.[3][1]
  2. daylight: Das Zimmer bekommt nur am Vormittag Licht.[3]
  3. lighting: In der Garage gibt es kein Licht.[3]
  4. (plural Lichter) A lamp, a light source: Mach bitte das Licht aus![3][1]
  5. (plural also Lichte) A candle: die Lichter auf der Torte ausblasen.[3][1]
  6. (colloquial, dated) Electric current for lighting.[3]
  7. (art) A highlight.[3]
  8. (hunting, usually plural) The eyes of game.[3][1]

Word family

  • Tageslicht
  • Sonnenlicht
  • Mondlicht
  • Augenlicht
  • Zwielicht
  • Nordlicht
  • Blaulicht
  • Blitzlicht
  • Rampenlicht
  • Rücklicht
  • Lebenslicht
  • Kirchenlicht
  • Lichtbild
  • Lichtjahr
  • Lichtmess
  • lichtscheu
  • Lichtspiel
  • leuchten
  • licht
  • lichten
  • lichterloh
  • Lichtung
  • Leuchte
  • Lohe
  • Luchs
  • English light

Usage notes

Jemanden hinters Licht führen “to lead someone behind the light” is to deceive someone; the Duden explains it as leading a person to the side where the lamp's beam is screened off.[3] Jemandem geht ein Licht auf (“a light goes on for someone”) is said when someone suddenly understands, and kein großes Licht sein is to be none too bright.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 861
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 576
  7. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  8. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de
  9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 854
  10. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 1351
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 203
  13. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag