Unternehmen

Forms

Unternehmen n (genitive Unternehmens, plural Unternehmen)^[1]

Etymology

It is the infinitive of the verb unternehmen used as a noun, which Paul compares with French entreprise.^[2][1][3] The verb goes back to Middle High German undernemen and Old High German untarneman, formed from unter- and nehmen; the same formation is Old Saxon undarniman, Old English underniman and Dutch ondernemen.^[1][4][5] Its base continues Proto-Germanic *nemaną (“to take”), which Pfeifer derives from the root Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to allot, take”).^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German untarneman is found in glosses of the 9th or 10th century and in Notker, meaning “to interrupt, prevent, intervene”.^[5] The noun is first recorded in 1606, in Wilhelm Dilich's Hungarian chronicle, of an undertaking that failed: dieses undernemen ohne frucht abgangen.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb took its present sense “to undertake” in the 16th century, but became common in it only in the 18th, while older German also said sich eines Dinges unternehmen.^[1][2] In the 18th century the noun meant a plan or undertaking, often a bold or risky one, in writers such as Bodmer, Gottsched and Klopstock, and Campe in 1813 recommended it as the German word for French entreprise.^[3]

From the early 19th century it has also named a business firm.^[2] The participle unternehmend “enterprising”, modelled on French entreprenant and English enterprising, became an adjective at the end of the 18th century.^[2] Unternehmer became an economic term after English undertaker and French entrepreneur, while Unternehmung goes back to Middle High German;^[2] Unternehmungslust is recorded in Hegel.^[2]

Timeline

• 9th–10th century – Old High German untarneman “to interrupt” appears in glosses.^[5]
• 1606 – First record of the noun, in Dilich's Hungarian chronicle.^[3][2]
• 1741 – Bodmer uses the noun for a bold enterprise.^[3]
• Late 18th century – unternehmend “enterprising” becomes an adjective.^[2]
• 1813 – Campe recommends it for French entreprise.^[3]
• Early 19th century – The sense “business firm” appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An undertaking, a planned action or venture: ein kühnes Unternehmen.^[7][1]
2. (military) An operation.^[7][1]
3. A business enterprise, a company or firm: ein Unternehmen mit dreihundert Beschäftigten.^[7][1][8]

Word family

• Großunternehmen
• Kleinunternehmen
• Familienunternehmen

Related words

• unternehmen
• Unternehmer
• Unternehmung
• nehmen

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
3. ^ a b c d e f Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 24, 1701
4. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 24, 1696
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
7. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org