Umsatz

Forms

Umsatz m (genitive Umsatzes, plural Umsätze)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Low German ummesat (“exchange”), a noun formed from ummesetten (“to exchange”), the Middle Low German form of umsetzen.^[2][1][3] Duden's etymological dictionary says that the verb was taken over from Low German in the 17th century, and the noun with it.^[4] The verb is formed from umme (“around”) and setten (“to set”), which is Proto-Germanic *satjan (“to set, make sit”), the causative of the verb for “to sit” and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).^[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer dates the commercial sense “exchange, buying and selling in trade” to the beginning of the 18th century, after Middle Low German ummesat;^[3] Middle Low German ummesetten is recorded around 1400.^[3] Paul also dates it to the early 18th century, in merchants' language, following the phrase Waren umsetzen “to turn over goods”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Phrases such as einen großen Umsatz haben and in Umsatz bringen belong to the language of trade.^[7] In the 19th century the noun was also used for any change of one state or form into another: Herder writes of the Umsatz of things into images and of images into words.^[8] From the end of the 19th century physiology used it for the conversion of energy and substances in the body, as in Energieumsatz and Grundumsatz.^[7][8]

Timeline

• About 1400 – Middle Low German ummesetten is recorded.^[3]
• Early 18th century – Umsatz in the commercial sense.^[3][7]
• Late 19th century – The physiological sense, as in Grundumsatz.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The total value of goods sold or services provided in a given period; turnover, sales, revenue: Der Umsatz der Bäckerei ist im Winter gestiegen.^[2][1][9]
2. (technical, especially medicine and chemistry) The conversion of energy or substances.^[2][1]

Word family

• Umsatzsteuer
• Grundumsatz
• Energieumsatz

Related words

• umsetzen
• setzen
• Satz

Usage notes

Umsatz machen is jargon for making a large turnover.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
8. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 23, 1054
9. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org