Etymologically
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Sieg

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Pronunciation

  • /ziːk/, /ziːç/[1]

Forms

Sieg m (genitive Sieges or Siegs, plural Siege)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German sige, inherited from Old High German sigu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *segaz (“victory”).[2][1][3] The same word is Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍃 (sigis), Old Norse sigr, Old English sige and sigor, Old Frisian sige, and Old Saxon sigi- in compounds.[2][4][3]

It continues an old neuter s-stem Proto-Indo-European *séǵʰos (“overpowering”), from the verb seen in Ancient Greek ἔχω (ékhō, “I have, hold”); Sanskrit सहस् (sáhas, “force, victory”) is the same noun.[3][2][4] Pfeifer adds Avestan hazah- (“violence”) and Middle Irish seg (“strength”), and old personal and place names such as those in Segesta and Segomāros.[4][5] The root is Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold, overpower in battle”).[4][6]

In Germanic the s-stem passed into other declensions, so that Old High German has an i-stem and a u-stem beside each other; the EWA thinks the u-stem may be a recent back-formation from the plural.[4][7] The Grimms' dictionary rejects an older derivation from Old High German sīgan (“to sink”), as “the striking down of the enemy”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German sigu is first recorded in the Isidor translation at the end of the 8th century, then in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and glosses, meaning “victory, achievement”;[8][7][9] sigu neman meant “to win”.[8][7][9]

Semantic evolution

The word first referred to victory in war, often in fixed phrases such as den Sieg davontragen (Stieler) or erfechten (Adelung), and later also to winning a sporting contest.[10] It was used of abstract things, as Sieg der Diplomatie, and ethically, as in Luther's eyn frölicher sieg und uberwindung;[10] Sieg der Vernunft “victory of reason” became a set phrase.[10]

The element was very frequent in old compounds and personal names.[5] Under National Socialism Sieg Heil! was a ritual cry at mass rallies.[10][11] The Pyrrhussieg, a victory won at too great a cost, is named after Pyrrhus' victory over the Romans in 279 BC.[10] From the noun comes Russian зига (zíga, “Nazi salute”).[1]

Timeline

  • Late 8th century – Old High German sigu in the Isidor translation.[8]
  • c. 800 – sigihaft “victorious” is recorded.[4]
  • 9th century – ubarsigirōn “to defeat”.[4]
  • 13th century – Rhineland segere “victor”, an isolated early record.[4][6]
  • 16th century – siegreich and Siger “victor” become common.[4]
  • 17th century – The spelling Sieger.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A victory: success in a battle, contest, game, election or argument: ein Sieg im Elfmeterschießen.[11][1][12]
  2. (figurative) The prevailing of one thing over another, as in Sieg der Vernunft.[11][10]

Word family

  • siegen
  • Sieger
  • siegreich
  • sieghaft
  • besiegen
  • Pyrrhussieg
  • hektisch
  • Schema

Usage notes

The river Sieg, a tributary of the Rhine, has a name of its own, from Old High German Sigin;[1] Wiktionary gives two competing explanations of it.[1] Auf Sieg spielen is sports jargon for “to go all out to win”.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 848
  3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 886
  6. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  7. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 7, 1194
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 280
  10. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  11. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  12. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org