Möglichkeit

Forms

Möglichkeit f (genitive Möglichkeit, plural Möglichkeiten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German mügelicheit, formed from German möglich + -keit.^[1][2][3][4] The adjective möglich, Middle High German mügelich, is recorded from the 13th century and is formed from mögen in its old sense “to be able”.^[5][4][3]

The verb, Old High German mugan, continues the preterite-present verb Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able”), also found in Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (magan), Old Norse mega and Old English magan, the source of English may.^[5][4][1] Outside Germanic Kluge compares first Old Church Slavonic мошти (mošti, “to be able”), and calls further connections such as Lithuanian mė́gti (“to like”) unclear.^[5] Pfeifer and the Duden trace the group to a root Proto-Indo-European *magʰ- (“to be able, have power”), with Russian мочь (močʹ, “to be able”).^[4][3] The noun Macht belongs to the same verb.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German mügelicheit is recorded in 13th-century glosses and in the mystics Meister Eckhart, Tauler and Seuse, meaning “ability, capacity”.^[6] Eckhart writes that the soul has eine muglichkeit alle dinc zu begrîfine “a capacity to grasp all things”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “strength, power, ability” of a person, which the adjective had lost, was kept alive into the 17th century: in a hymn of Paul Gerhardt God lacks neither goodness nor müglichkeit “power”.^[7] In Early New High German mysticism it was also the soul's capacity, given by grace, to become one with God.^[8] Beside this stood the sense “what can be done in a given case”, as in Stieler's es war keine Möglichkeit ihme zu helfen “there was no way of helping him”, which became the main sense.^[7] Middle High German already used the word for an opportunity or chance.^[4]

The modern senses are a possible course or option, the fact that something can be done or may be the case, an opening or chance, and in the plural one's means and abilities.^[9]

Timeline

• 13th century – The adjective möglich is first recorded.^[5]
• 13th century – mügelicheit appears in Middle High German glosses.^[6]
• 17th century – The old sense “power, ability” is still in use, as in Paul Gerhardt.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A possible course of action, an option: es gibt zwei Möglichkeiten.^[9][1]
2. Without plural: the fact that something can be done, feasibility: die Möglichkeit besteht, dass ….^[9]
3. The fact that something is conceivable, a possibility or likelihood.^[9][1][2]
4. An opportunity, a chance: die Möglichkeit haben, etwas zu tun.^[9][1]
5. (sports) A scoring chance.^[9]
6. In the plural: one's means or abilities: über seine Möglichkeiten leben.^[9][2]

Related words

• möglich
• unmöglich
• mögen
• vermögen
• Macht
• English may

Usage notes

Nach Möglichkeit means “if possible”, and the colloquial exclamation Ist das die Möglichkeit! expresses astonishment or indignation.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 630
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
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, 2468
8. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag