Macht

Forms

Macht f (genitive Macht, plural Mächte)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German maht, inherited from Old High German maht, inherited from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz (“might, power”).^[2][3][1] The same word is Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mahts), Old English meaht or miht, Old Frisian macht, Old Saxon maht and Dutch macht, and in English might; Old Norse máttr is a masculine of slightly different formation.^[2][4][5]

It is an abstract noun formed with a t-suffix from the preterite-present verb Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able”) that survives in mögen.^[2][5][4] The Old Norse noun continues a similar abstract with a tu-suffix.^[4][5] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *magʰ- (“to be able, help”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German maht is found in glosses from about 765, the Straßburg Oaths, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “ability, faculty, strength, power, force, possibility”, also “nature, essence”.^[6][5][7] From the 9th or 10th century it is also used of the male genitals, as is Old Saxon maht in 10th-century glosses.^[8][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was bodily strength: Luther and Maaler still have mit aller Macht and mit gantzer Macht und stercke, and Schiller could speak of his own bodily powers as meine Mächte.^[9] From this came “active force”, often of God and the powers of heaven and hell (Macht der Finsternis after Luke 22:53), and since the 18th century of mental and spiritual forces, such as die Macht der Liebe.^[9] The genital sense lives on in Gemächt.^[8]

The plural was Machten as well as Mächte until the 18th century, and the old form survives in Vollmacht and Ohnmacht.^[9][10] The sense of rule and political authority (an die Macht kommen) and of a powerful state, as in Seemacht (17th century) and Großmacht, is now central.^[11][8] Compounds include Machthaber and Machtwort (both 16th century).^[8][12]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German maht appears in glosses.^[2][6]
• 9th–10th century – maht is also used of the male genitals.^[8]
• 16th century – Machthaber and Machtwort are recorded.^[8][12]
• 17th century – First record of Seemacht.^[8]
• 18th century – Macht is applied to mental and spiritual forces; the plural Machten falls out of use.^[9]
• 20th century – The verb entmachten “to deprive of power” is formed.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. power and influence: all the means and forces someone has at their disposal over others;^[11][1] alles tun, was in seiner Macht steht, to do everything in one's power;^[11][1] mit aller Macht, with all one's strength.^[11][1]
2. (usually plural) A force with special or mysterious power: höhere Mächte, die Mächte der Finsternis.^[11]
3. Political or public authority, rule: an die Macht kommen, to come to power.^[11][13]
4. A powerful state, or an influential group: Großmacht, die Westmächte.^[11][13]

Word family

• mächtig
• Allmacht
• Ohnmacht
• Vollmacht
• Übermacht
• Großmacht
• Machthaber
• Machtwort
• machtlos
• machtvoll
• entmachten
• Besatzungsmacht
• Streitmacht

Related words

• mögen
• vermögen
• Gemächt
• English might

Usage notes

Macht geht vor Recht “might goes before right” is a proverb for the experience that power prevails over law.^[11] The word also appears in female names such as Mathilde and Mechthild.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 590
3. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 6, 54
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 213
8. ^ a b c d e f g Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
9. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 1397
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 534
13. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org