Etymologically
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Möglichkeit

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈmøːklɪçˌkaɪ̯t/, [ˈmøːklɪçˌkʰaɪ̯tʰ][1]

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]

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